How this instrument works
The CASH Act closed out 2020 by authorizing a second federal Economic Impact Payment: $600 for the filer, $600 for a spouse on a joint return, and $600 for every dependent claimed — the same flat amount regardless of a dependent's age, unlike the first payment's split between $1,200 for an adult and $500 for a child. This instrument rebuilds that formula exactly: multiply $600 by the people counted on the return, then subtract whatever the income-based reduction removes.
The reduction is proportional, not a cliff: for every dollar of adjusted gross income above the filing-status threshold, five cents comes off the total rebate. That shallow rate stretches the taper across a wide band — a single filer with no dependents keeps some payment until AGI reaches $87,000, twelve thousand dollars past the $75,000 starting point, because $600 divided by five cents is $12,000. A married couple filing jointly starts the reduction at $150,000 instead, and adding dependents pushes the zero point higher still, since each extra $600 of maximum rebate buys another $12,000 of room before the formula lands on zero.
Nobody uses this math to plan a payment that has not arrived; the check went out in late December 2020 and January 2021, mostly by direct deposit or a mailed Treasury debit card. What remains is reconciliation work — matching an old bank deposit or IRS Notice 1444-B against what the AGI on file should have produced, the kind of check a preparer runs when a client's paperwork disagrees with memory. The window to fix a miscalculated payment through an amended 2020 return closed in May 2024 under the standard three-year refund deadline, so this figure documents what was owed rather than something still collectible.
- Enter Adjusted gross income, $ from the 2020 return you're checking, not current income.
- Choose Filing status — Single sets the $75,000 threshold, Married filing jointly sets $150,000.
- Set People counted (filer + spouse + dependents) to everyone claimed on that return, dependents included at any age.
- Read Estimated rebate, $ — the $600-per-person total after the 5-cent-per-dollar reduction.
- Raise the AGI past the threshold to watch the rebate shrink by five cents per extra dollar until it reaches zero.
Worked example — $60,000 AGI, single filer
Set Adjusted gross income, $ to 60000, Filing status to Single, and People counted (filer + spouse + dependents) to 1. The $75,000 Single threshold sits above that $60,000 AGI, so excess AGI is zero and nothing is subtracted — the formula returns the full $600 rebate for the one person on the return, exactly the maximum a single filer with no dependents can receive.
Raise the same filer's AGI to $90,000 instead and excess AGI becomes $15,000; five cents on each of those dollars removes $750, more than the $600 maximum, so Estimated rebate, $ floors at zero — the payment disappeared entirely $3,000 before the $87,000 point where the reduction exactly equals $600. Change the household instead to a married couple filing jointly with two dependents at $100,000 AGI — People counted becomes 4, the $150,000 threshold leaves no excess, and the rebate is the full $2,400: four people at $600 each.
Questions
How is the CASH Act payment different from the first stimulus check?
The CASH Act paid a flat $600 per person — filer, spouse, and each dependent — where the earlier CARES Act payment split unevenly: $1,200 for an adult and only $500 for a dependent under 17, with nothing for an older dependent. A family with a college-age dependent saw that person go from $0 in the first round to $600 in the second, even though the total household amount was lower overall.
Why does the rebate hit exactly zero at $87,000 for a single filer?
Because the reduction is five cents per dollar of AGI above the $75,000 threshold, and $600 divided by $0.05 is $12,000 — add that to $75,000 and the rebate reaches zero at $87,000 for someone with no dependents. Each additional $600 of maximum rebate from a spouse or dependent pushes that zero point $12,000 higher, since the same five-cent rate has more rebate left to erase.
Does People counted include a dependent who is an adult or a college student?
Yes — the CASH Act set no age limit on dependents, unlike the first stimulus payment, so a return claiming a 20-year-old college student or an elderly parent as a dependent counts that person the same as a younger child. Enter the total number of dependents actually claimed on the return, regardless of their age.
Can I still claim a second stimulus payment I never received?
Generally no. Unclaimed second-round payments were collected as a Recovery Rebate Credit on a 2020 tax return, and the standard three-year deadline to file or amend that return for a refund passed in May 2024. This instrument now reconstructs what the formula assigned rather than producing a payment that can still be claimed.
Why does Married filing jointly use $150,000 instead of some other figure?
$150,000 is exactly double the $75,000 single threshold, so a joint return's starting point scales evenly rather than compressing the band the way some other relief programs did for married filers. This calculator only models Single and Married filing jointly and does not carry the $112,500 head-of-household threshold the real payment used, so a head-of-household return has no exact match among the two Filing status options here.
References
Read this first: This instrument shows arithmetic, not advice. Real offers add fees, taxes and terms that vary by lender and place — verify the figures against your actual paperwork before deciding anything.