CARES Act Tax Relief for Individuals

Fast on the heels of passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (a law which ensures paid sick leave and unemployment benefits for employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic along with payroll tax credits for affected employers), Congress passed and the President signed the CARES Act - a massive economic relief package with numerous tax breaks - on March 27, 2020.

For individuals, the most important form of tax-related relief may be the recovery rebate tax credits, which are direct payments (sometimes referred to as "stimulus checks") the government will be making to those with income under a certain level. The following are the key tax provisions of the CARES Act.

CARES Act Tax Relief for Individuals

Direct Payments/Recovery rebates:  Single individuals and joint filers can expect to receive a payment of $1,200 or $2,400, respectively, plus $500 for each qualifying child dependent under the age of 17. However, the rebate is reduced (but not below zero) by 5 percent of the amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds (1) $150,000 in the case of a joint return, (2) $112,500 in the case of a head of household, and (3) $75,000 in the case of a single taxpayer or a taxpayer with a filing status of married filing separately. Rebates will be issued based on 2019 income tax returns, or 2018 returns for individuals who haven't yet filed in 2019. The rebates are eligible for electronic disbursement to any account to which the payee authorized, on or after January 1, 2018, the delivery of a refund of taxes or of a federal tax payment, including federal retirement benefits.

IRS has added to their website at IRS.gov Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here.This is for eligible U.S. citizens or permanent residents who were not otherwise required to file a federal income tax return for 2019 and did not plan to.Information provided will be used to determine your eligibility and payment amount and send you an Economic Impact Payment.

The IRS is currently working on adding a section where a taxpayer who has filed their 2018 or 2019 tax return can provide the IRS with their bank direct deposit information if they had not provided the information in the past.This section is still in progress.

Using Retirement Funds Without Penalty:  The CARES Act waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty for coronavirus-related distributions from retirement plans and provides the option of recontributing the funds for up to three years after such distributions are made. A "coronavirus-related distribution" is any distribution from an eligible retirement plan made: (1) on or after January 1, 2020, and before December 31, 2020, (2) to an individual (i) who is diagnosed with the virus SARS-CoV-2 or with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by a test approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (ii) whose spouse or dependent is diagnosed with such virus or disease by such a test, or (iii) who experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off or having work hours reduced due to such virus or disease, being unable to work due to lack of child care due to such virus or disease, the closure or reduction of hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to such virus or disease, or other factors as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury.

Required Minimum Distribution Rules Waived for 2020:  The CARES Act waives the required minimum distribution rules for 2020 for defined contribution plans, including an eligible deferred compensation plan, and individual retirement plans.This includes distributions that would have been required by April 1, 2020, due to the account owner’s having turned age 70 ½ in 2019.

Charitable deduction liberalizations.  The CARES Act makes four significant liberalizations to the rules governing charitable deductions:

(1) Individuals will be able to claim a $300 above-the-line deduction for cash contributions made, generally, to public charities in 2020. This rule effectively allows a limited charitable deduction to taxpayers claiming the standard deduction.

(2) The limitation on charitable deductions for individuals that is generally 60% of modified adjusted gross income (the contribution base) doesn’t apply to cash contributions made, generally, to public charities in 2020 (qualifying contributions). Instead, an individual’s qualifying contributions, reduced by other contributions, can be as much as 100% of the contribution base. No connection between the contributions and COVID-19 activities is required.

(3) Similarly, the limitation on charitable deductions for corporations that is generally 10% of (modified) taxable income doesn’t apply to qualifying contributions made in 2020. Instead, a corporation’s qualifying contributions, reduced by other contributions, can be as much as 25% of (modified) taxable income. No connection between the contributions and COVID-19 activities is required.

(4) For contributions of food inventory made in 2020, the deduction limitation increases from 15% to 25% of taxable income for C corporations and, for other taxpayers, from 15% to 25% of the net aggregate income from all businesses from which the contributions were made.

Repayment of Student Loan Debt by Employer Excluded from Income:  The CARES Act excludes from income certain student loan debt repaid by an individual's employer. It applies to repayments made after date of enactment and before 2021.

Break for remote care services provided by high deductible health plans.  For plan years beginning before 2021, the CARES Act allows high deductible health plans to pay for expenses for tele-health and other remote services without regard to the deductible amount for the plan.

Break for nonprescription medical products.  For amounts paid after December 31, 2019, the CARES Act allows amounts paid from Health Savings Accounts and Archer Medical Savings Accounts to be treated as paid for medical care even if they aren’t paid under a prescription. And, amounts paid for menstrual care products are treated as amounts paid for medical care. For reimbursements after December 31, 2019, the same rules apply to Flexible Spending Arrangements and Health Reimbursement Arrangements.

Emergency Increase in Unemployment Compensation.  This provision would add an additional $600 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation to every weekly unemployment benefit, effective until July 31, 2020.This $600 will be taxable (like regular unemployment benefits), but it will be disregarded in determining Medicaid or CHIP eligibility.