The Social Security Administration’s payment calendar has again enabled a group of beneficiaries to receive two payments in March. The SSA sent out its version of stimulus checks to over 71M Americans as on January 2023. Due to the mammoth nature of the task, the SSA has spread out the period of the payments and separated them based on the birthdate, the type of the benefit, and when the recipient first signed up to receive the payments.
This often leads to a peculiar situation when the beneficiaries end up receiving more than one payment within a calendar month. March is one of those months other than June, September, and December this year. A second group of beneficiaries always get double payments as they receive both Social Security and Supplemental Support Income.
Qualifying For A Double Social Security Payment In March
As mentioned earlier, beneficiaries of both the Supplemental support Income and Social Security receive two payments each month. The agency issues one on the 1st of each month for Supplemental Support Income and the 2nd on the 3rd of each month as the Social Security payment.
But if the 1st of the month falls on any federal holiday or weekend, the payment date moves forward to the next business day. This is expected in April as the 1st is a Saturday. The payment thus has been moved up to a Friday on the earlier day, which is the 31st of March. Again the first 2024 payment falls on 1st January next year which is a Monday, so the payments will be pushed forward to a Friday, which falls on 29th December 2023.
So beneficiaries of the Supplemental Support Income will get double what they usually get in the next months. They will also be in line for the Social Security payments and so will get three payments in March.
Calculating The Social Security Stimulus Check In March
The Social Security Administration benefits disabled and retired workers as well as survivors. The amount that goes out to the beneficiaries is linked to multiple factors that include when the workers start claiming the Social Security checks and what the Primary Insurance Amount is among others. The average monthly Social Security payment in January this year stood at $1,961 across all benefit types, reveals agency data.
Supplemental Support Income specifically targets both children and adults with disabilities. It also backs those having resources and income below a certain threshold. This support also goes out to people aged sixty-five years and above and who have financial means well below the threshold.
By January this year, the average payment stood at $677 for all beneficiaries of the Supplemental Support Income. The maximum amount stood increased this year to $914 for individual beneficiaries and $1,371 for married couples.
Stimulus Check Still Goes Out From 6 States
While Social Security beneficiaries have seen a generous increase in their monthly payments, it has been tough for the majority of Americans, especially in the low and moderate-income categories. They had to ride out 2022 and the record increase in prices without the support of any federal stimulus checks.
The only federal support afforded by the federal administration was the remnants of the expanded Child Tax Credit stimulus check that went out to families with children. while they received 50% of the payments as an advance against the 2021 income tax year in the last two quarters of 2021, the balance 50% went out in the 2022 tax season, as a tax rebate against the income tax returns for 2021.
The non-participation of the federal administration in the support process forced states to step in with stimulus checks. the maximum amount of stimulus checks went out in the first two quarters of 2022. Most of the states sent out one-off stimulus checks.
The states stepped in to answer the desperate plea of residents overwhelmed by the continuous increase in living costs as all-around prices continued their relentless rise throughout 2022.
Every product and service saw a rapid and enormous increase in prices affecting everyday products from gasoline to groceries. Home rent too saw a rapid rise in 2022. While most states have relied on the American Rescue Plan Act funds signed by President Biden immediately after he assumed power in January 2021.
But states such as California have relied exclusively on their surplus budget funds, which were nearly a hundred billion, to send out generous amounts to its residents. Around 23 million residents are in line for stimulus checks between $200 and $1,050 depending on the Adjusted Gross Income as revealed in the state income tax returns for 2020 filed before October 17, 2021.
The Golden State approved the payments in June 2022 but timed the payments for the last quarter coinciding with the festive season. Most of the payments were sent out by the closing of last year. But a percentage, around 5%, of the payments were timed to be sent out through debit cards to residents who have filed their income tax returns through paper filing. Residents who had changed their home address without informing the authorities or had changed their bank address or their bank account also will receive their stimulus check in the form of pre-paid debit cards.
Other states sending out stimulus checks in the last quarter of the year to residents include Colorado, which approved stimulus checks of up to $750 for individual filers and double that amount for married couples filing jointly. Those who filed their 2021 income tax returns on the stipulated date received their money months ago.
But residents who went in the form an extension of their filing dates in 2022 and received an extra time of 6 months to file their income tax returns may only get their stimulus checks in February this year through the US Postal Service.
Idaho has also approved stimulus checks that are worth greater than 10% of the filer’s income tax liability for 2020 or $300 for single filers and $600 for married couples filing jointly. Idaho stimulus checks are expected to continue for the first quarter of this year.
