Welcome to the Dr. Friday show! In this episode, Dr. Friday answers all your questions about the updated stimulus check and the who, what, where, and why of these checks. She also answers the following questions:

• Should You File Your 2019 Taxes?
• How To Know If You’re Getting The Stimulus Check
• Do Your Dependants Get a Check?
• If You Owe Income Taxes, Will You Receive Your Check?
• What File You Should Use If Your Address Has Changed
• Is Filing For Unemployment Taxable Income?
• If I’m On Disability Social Security, Do I Need To File My Taxes?

Transcript

Announcer 0:01
No, no, no, she’s not a medical doctor, but she can sure cure your tax problems or your financial woes. She’s the “How-to” girl. It’s the Dr. Friday Show. If you have a question for Dr. Friday call her now at 615-737-9986. So here’s your host financial counselor and tax consultant Dr. Friday.

Dr. Friday 0:30
All righty. We are here live in-studio I guess I should say remotely because the boss is still running this stuff from the board there. So, we can take live calli-ins so if you want 615-737-9986 taking calls. We have had a ton of changes, especially since the final or maybe not even the final stimulus from the President was signed on Friday. We’re going to talk a lot about who, when, why and what we’re going to have to go with those checks. I’m sure a lot of people are wanting to know which ones are which and how it’s going to work and who’s going to get the check and etc, etc. So we’ll take a look and see what we have going there. Should you even file your 2019 and we’ll get into who should file who shouldn’t file and what happens if you have children that are 17, 18, 19, 25 whatever, living at home and they are your dependents. What needs to be done about that because under this new stimulus, things are going to be a bit different and they’re looking at a dependent just as the tax law does, which is children 16 and under are legitimate dependence children in college or moving on going to have different situations so I know the phones are gonna be fun today and that is awesome. I will do my best to keep you informed and let you know what going on. Of course, my business owners. Hey guys, we have the Cares Act, who should be filing for the payroll, things like that. Awesome. Thank you for moving that over so I can actually see. Appreciate it. Alright, so let’s go ahead and go to line one. I believe it’s Mark. Mark, what can I do for you?

Caller 2:20
I turned my taxes in on February the second and I had a couple of small part-time businesses. And every time I pulled my thing out it says it is still processing. Should I start getting worried that maybe I did something wrong, but I haven’t heard with the IRS.

Dr. Friday 2:37
I would not. I would probably make sure I have a copy of E-file that has been processed. We have had the same situation here where some of the people haven’t received their refund yet then I have other people that within 10 days are getting their refunds. It may be a match situation. Do you have children or are you married?

Caller 2:58
No, all single. Just me.

Dr. Friday 3:00
All right. So my suggestion is I wouldn’t get overly worried. I will tell you that there was a news release from the IRS that was sent to my office on Friday that the IRS right now has closed their helplines. So life again is going to be a little bit more challenging on how do we even get the information out. They’re going to be still taking some calls, but I know for a fact I was on hold for over three hours and then they hung up on me. So my suggestion at the moment, make sure you have confirmation that it’s been filed. If you did yourself, great, if you have a tax person, have them send you that confirmation. At this point, you’re just gonna have to sit back and wait.

Caller 3:42
Okay, yeah, it says it was accepted by the IRS. So I’ll just sit back and wait. I appreciate it very much.

Dr. Friday 3:49
Thank you very much for calling. I appreciate it. So we’ve got quite a few callers coming in here and Friday’s probably gotta get her glasses on here so she can see. Why don’t we go ahead and take the next caller, whichever that one was, here we go? There we go. I think he’s picked it. So I think the next one is going to be Bob. I may be wrong. Let’s go to Bob. Okay, we’re going to Lisa, right? Who do I have on here, Lisa? There we go.

Caller 4:17
Hey, Dr. Friday. I have a question. I started making jewelry a couple of years ago, and this year, I started actually selling it doing vendor shows. So my question is, would it be worth it for this year to claim it as a business because I had about maybe $3,000 in expenses and only earned about $1,500. But I plan to continue doing it.

Dr. Friday 4:43
So basically, if you’ve earned more than 500, you need to go ahead. I mean, theoretically, it’s above a hobby. You may have a loss or break-even situation. In my personal opinion, I would go ahead and file a Schedule C, put my expenses on there. Because you were making the attempt to be a legitimate business at that time.

Caller 5:05
Right, okay, so just do a Schedule C. Also, I get 1099 from my actual job, but it was only $4,000.

Dr. Friday 5:18
Why? Well, that’s another Schedule C theoretically, or you could merge them together if they’re at all similar. Otherwise, I would say that depending on who’s doing your taxes, or if you doing yourself, it doesn’t take much to do schedule C’s, all in all, the 1099 would be for whatever you do for that. The other one is the jewelry business. Then you write off the appropriate expenses for each one of those, because the jewelry may have inventory and a couple of different things where your job is probably going to have I’m not too sure but whatever service you’re providing, and whatever expenses that might be associated with that.

Caller 5:51
Right, so it’d be two totally separate schedule C’s?

Dr. Friday 5:55
Yes, if I was preparing, that’s the way I would prepare. Yes.

Caller 5:58
Okay. All right. Well, Thank you for

Dr. Friday 6:01
No problem. Thank you, Lisa. Thanks for calling, I appreciate it. All right, this time, we’re going to get to go to Bob. Hello, Bob.

Caller 6:08
Hello, Dr. Friday, how you doing?

Dr. Friday 6:11
I am doing awesome. It looks like you’re going to ask the question the million-dollar question. I probably had, I don’t know, probably 40 emails on this lately. I finally think I can answer but go ahead and ask the question first, Bob.

Caller 6:26
Yeah, my neighbor is in his 70s. He hasn’t filed taxes for at least five years. He wanted to know, well, he gets a stimulus check.

Dr. Friday 6:37
So according to this, they’re saying social security as part of retirement or through social security disability, they will be able to get even and they’re not required to file. They’ll be going through the Social Security Administration information and submitting those checks. Most of them, many of them have direct deposit for their social security. That’s where they get the money put directly into their bank unless they have other investments and things along with that. For many of the people that are listening, just like your neighbor, awesome question, to be honest, because that was one that I’ve gotten a lot of. Social security people on social security will be getting this check.

Caller 7:18
Thank you, Dr. Friday.

Dr. Friday 7:19
Thank you very much for asking the question. I appreciate it. All right we’ve got Steve. Steve from Murfreesboro, what can I do for you, sweetheart?

Caller 7:29
Hi, Dr. Friday, love your show. I have a question about an IRA that I inherited back in 2016. This is kind of a two-part question. I’m seeing now that you have to deplete the IRA within 10 years if it was inherited after? I don’t know like 2018 or 2019?

Dr. Friday 7:53
That’s correct. That’s 2019, so you’re fine on that particular side.

Caller 7:57
Okay, whereas mine goes by a formula. That’s based on when the person died and how much money they had at the time they died. Okay, my next part of the question and the real reason I called was, can I go ahead and take the 2020 distribution without any risk of not taking? I mean, if I go ahead and have my brokerage, figure up how much I should take for 2020. Does it not matter what day of the year you take?

Dr. Friday 8:29
No, it is based on the balance of the prior year. So whatever the balance of that IRA was, as of 12/31, let’s just say 2019. That’s what your RMD is gonna be based on. So theoretically, you can take it on the first day of the next year if they have the information available.

Caller 8:45
Okay. All right. That makes sense to me. I was like, invested in you know, stocks and mutual funds. The value is constantly changing from day to day, if that makes sense based on the prior years. Okay, that’s the answer to my question. Thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 9:02
Awesome. Good. Thank you very much. Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about the stimulus checks. So here is what has come down. So people that are listening who is going to get them? Individuals that make $75,000 or less well actually 75,000-99, they’re going to slowly edge it out. So if you’re making 75, you’re going to get the full 1200 up to 99. They’re going to drop it by 5% all the way up. If you’re making 99 you’ll get zero. Head of household I’m showing $112,500 is the top. It’s going to means test out I’m not too sure what the offset of that 5% up until it becomes zero. Then you have 150 for married couples, it means out at 198 with no children, if you have children 16 and under in the year of 2019, then you will get $500 for each child that is there. So here’s where the tricks gonna come in, right? “So I have a child and they were 16 and 2018 so I’m not going to file my 19 because I’m going to lose the dependent credit.” The government isn’t quite that silly people, so keep in mind that this is even going to get more complicated because we’re going to be filing this stimulus the amount that you physically receive on your 2020 return and that is truly what they’re basing it on. So if your children were 16 or 17, in 2019, but you waited and let them base it on, you’re 18 and maybe you do or don’t get the money, you will have a payback coming. Now we don’t know how this is going to work. I haven’t seen the payback, but it is going to be something that is going to be interesting as far as how the payment will work. This isn’t our first ride at the stimulus table guys, what was it? No, we had one in like 2008 or nine. We’ve had some in 2001 or two. We’ve done this before. In some cases, they made us pay back some cases they haven’t, we’re going to have to figure out that has not been written. The basic answer is this: the stimulus refund credit will be reported on your 2020 and being claimed on that return, and then we’re going to have to find out exactly how this works. There’s gonna be a lot of exceptions. What if you were married in 2019, but you’re divorced in 2020? Should you be filing married filing separately, who’s gonna claim it if you’re in the midst of it? So we’re gonna find out more and more of that as we go through the show today. I’m gonna share some of that and some of it we’re going to have to wait for, but let’s go right to the phones. We’ve got Darryl on the line. Darryl, what can I do for you?

Caller 11:50
I appreciate you taking the call. You’ve helped me several times, I enjoy your show. I’ve got a question. I’m 69 still working, not laid off or anything. I’m married and my wife is 65, and she is on Social Security. So I think you may have answered this. If you did, I’m sorry for the redundant question. But in our situation, I guess is what we’re asking, will we get a get part of that package as a household? Or will I get some because now I’m working or will I even get any because I’m working. Will she still get some as a retiree even though I claim her as a dependent? Is that too many questions at one time?

Dr. Friday 12:28
No, that’s perfect. Those are great questions because some of these I haven’t actually answered before and some of them are. I don’t care if we repeat it five times because it takes people sometimes, they’re in the car, they’re not fully listening. So in answer your question first, can I ask if you file married filing jointly and claim her social security on your tax return or married filing separately, therefore not making her Social Security tax and you’re a little higher tax bracket?

Caller 12:52
[Inaudible] I claim her social security. It’s all a part of filing jointly.

Dr. Friday 12:59
Okay, perfect. So in your case is kind of right out there. So as long as your income is 150 to 198, if it is over 198, you will not get $1. If it is under 150 or less, you will get the full $2400.

Caller 13:19
Okay, she’s smiling. That was a good answer.

Dr. Friday 13:23
I’m glad I made her happy. Alright, so yeah if you’re anywhere between those two numbers, you’ll get partial payments. Again, great questions and people on social security will be considered or will be receiving some of these benefits. So that’s kind of good. So I like the answer. Yeah.

Caller 13:39
Thank you, Dr. Friday you’ve been nothing but good news so keep up the good record. Thank you. Bye.

Dr. Friday 13:43
Thank you, sir. Bye. Okay, hopefully, this is going smoothly. I’m having a good time on this site. This is working great for me, just to let you guys know, I’m sure everyone cares. So Obviously we’re talking stimulus because that just happened on Friday. I will say we do not know when the checks are coming out. On the last stimulus that it took several or two months for the checks that come out. Trump says he wants them out in weeks. So far, so good. The man has pretty much always done what he wants. So we’ll see how that happens. We will be looking at some of these others. I want to point out also the student loan relief. I know last week, we talked a little bit about it. Now is a pretty huge time if there is no interest being accumulated as a loan so you might want to consider if this isn’t really causing, because not all businesses are hitting a hardship on this coronavirus. I don’t care you know, some people are some people have been unemployed, other people have not. If you’re not and you have the ability to pay some money. Think about it, think about how that might work to pay down because it’s all going to go to principal. So just the point of interest. So again, 2001 we had economic growth relief. Everyone got like $300 for every single, $600 for married. In 2008, we had the Economic Act of 2008, where everyone got three or six, or a married couple got 1200, 300 per child. Again in 2009, we had another one where beneficiaries get $250 for the programs in retirement for retirees and veterans. Okay, so we have had several of these, not every time for the same exact situation. So what if you owe the IRS? Here’s a great question. Is the IRS going to keep your stimulus to pay back taxes? The answer is no. If you owe federal debts, tax debt, student loan or unemployment, they will not be touching that money. It will still come directly to you, they cannot apply it against your open balance. However, if you have Child Support, the government can keep it for that. So again, If you owe the IRS and you’re like, “Oh man, I’m not going to see the money because the IRS is gonna keep it, they’ve kept all my refunds for the last five years,” whatever, they will not be keeping this. That is kind of important to know. So that way, then you know exactly how that’s going to happen. So this money will end up in your pockets. The IRS is hoping to have checked as fast as two to three weeks, according to the IRS website. Again, they are first they’re going to be doing direct deposits. So for all of you that have gotten to the 21st century and have had all your refunds or your auto payments coming out of bank accounts, and for all those that were social security that has a direct deposit into a bank account, that would be the first people getting these checks. Then they’ll go out and start doing a mail-back or start mailing back the money for individuals. So, keep in mind again, this is going to be for married couples, 1200 dollars each, 2400-500 for every child under the age of 16. So now we’re bringing up a question. “My 17-year-old works. But you know what? I’ve always claimed him as a dependent he makes $6,000 a year, not enough to really support himself. But hey, in 2019, should my teenager/my college student ever possibly consider filing their own taxes and claiming themselves?” That’s a tough question. I mean, because in some cases, that could be $3,000. If you have a child in credit, you get 2500, possibly for an educational credit plus $500. For their dependency, you’re going to receive 3000, they would only receive 1200. You would only have received an additional $500. So it may not be something that’s going to help in some of those situations. So the math doesn’t add up to this. They have every person filing their own tax return, you may still be getting a larger refund for those children claiming them. Here’s something the IRS has in big bold letters on the white website “beware of scam.” It’s important that we are be wary of the scam to make sure we have that. We’re gonna go ahead and take our first break. Why don’t we do that, and then we come back we’ll get back to your call 615-737-9986. We’ll be right back with the Dr. Friday show.

Oh, All righty. We are doing awesome. We are going to move right to the phone lines. I love it when the phones light up and I am going to start right out with the first one which was Katie, I believe. Katie, what can I do for you?

Caller 18:59
Dr. Friday This is Chris, Katie’s husband. I had a quick question about child support. If he had not filed for his taxes and is trying to hide on paying his child support, will he still get a stimulus check?

Dr. Friday 19:13
Probably not. My understanding is they’re going to use 18, 19, and then 20. If you haven’t applied within those three years, then the stimulus is not going to be available to be given out. No.

Caller 19:28
Okay. Now, another question real quick. If we have kids in the house, does it go off household or how many kids get the check?

Dr. Friday 19:40
It’s what’s on the tax return. So if you’ve got five kids on your tax return, and you’re married, you’ll get 24 plus five for the five kids. So that’s another three. So you could theoretically end up with $5400 as long as they’re under the age of 16. All of them.

Caller 19:55
Okay. Thank you, Dr. Friday.

Dr. Friday 19:57
Thank you. Appreciate it. There are a few times of having a big family under that age, my parents would have loved it. There were eight of us 10 years apart. So, you know, theoretically, they could have just um, anyways. Alright, let’s move along here we have looked like Dave is next. Dave, what can I do for you,

Caller 20:15
Good afternoon, Dr. Friday. My question would be I’m my disabled veteran 100% VA disability and receive a monthly VA payment, will I still get the stimulus?

Dr. Friday 20:33
So looking at some of the original bills, they included railroad veterans and Social Security. Looking at the current one, it may be that they’re just lumping everything in as social security so I’m not going to give you 100% but from what I’ve read from the beginning, they were putting in Railroad Retirement, veterans and Social Security. I don’t see it in the initial bill. But you know what, I’m reading short sections of them. So I’m gonna make the wild guess why would they give them to Social Security benefits and not give it to people that were veterans? I mean, that doesn’t make any sense at all, in my standpoint, but we are talking the IRS Dave, so don’t get me totally up. As soon as I find it out, I will put it on the radio so we can let veterans know that they’re getting them if we haven’t already received the checks in the future. If I can find something that guarantees it, I will put it out on the radio for you guys. Okay?

Caller 21:29
All right. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Dr. Friday 21:32
Thank you for listening. I appreciate it. All right. Let’s see here. The next person we’re gonna go to is Cory. Hey, Cory, what can I do for you?

Caller 21:42
Hey, Friday, I was wanting to ask you a question of the stimulus check. Let’s say you’ve had situations where you’ve been out of the loop for a number of years. You haven’t come in out of the cold and you’re not sure if they had your correct address. With a document like I 9’s or W 4’s whatever you use for withholding, could you apply for a job? Let’s say your address on there is your routing number for your direct deposit if you have a job within the last six months? Would that be in there as your current address [inaudible]

Dr. Friday 22:13
It would not be. What they are suggesting going and filing an 8822. It’s being put out there for everybody, you know to file a form called an 8822. Because what you give to your employer is not released to the IRS. The only time that the IRS receives it is on a physical tax return where we put it in for either fund that comes out of funds that go into a said bank account, or with social security where they receive a check. So if you haven’t got a current address or you’ve moved recently, I would suggest filing relatively quickly if you’re not filing your taxes because right now you’re not ready to file them. I would file the 8822 and get that up to date in the IRS system as soon as possible at least. So that way the check was being mailed to the right address and you’re not waiting longer than necessary to get that refund.

Caller 23:05
Great. Now you’ve gone through the fillable files on the tax form, and you got to the point where it won’t accept it because you don’t have the previous year’s AGI or the five-digit personal pin number you put in, how can you just print that off and mail it in? Will that be accepted as filing for 2019 if the document’s already done on their free fillable forms?

Dr. Friday 23:26
You can try but also try the last five digits of your social security number most software’s that is the five-digit PIN.

Caller 23:34
Thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 23:35
Okay, thanks. We’re gonna keep moving along because I have awesome callers. All right, Jeff is next. Jeff, what can I do for you, sweetie?

Caller 23:45
Yes, thanks for taking my call. I think the previous callers have answered my question. I haven’t filed taxes in years because of [inaudible]. Do I have to file a check for an 8822? You said the text that forms to let them know where you are?

Dr. Friday 24:08
Right, and 8822 is the form that you’re going to do. If you haven’t filed 18 or 19 unless you’re on Social Security or something like that, then you’re not going to get a check, you’re going to need to file an 18, 19 tax return or even 20 they will be giving them because that’s where it’s going to report back on. To get the check, you will have to file some taxes or at least update the information okay?

Caller 24:33
Okay, I haven’t earned enough in several years because of a heart issue, but I was never able to get my disability after trying several years, but I’m gonna try again. I greatly appreciate it, so I’ll go ahead and file and then I love your show. I’ve listened for a long, long time.

Dr. Friday 24:51
Thank you, Jeff. I do appreciate that. Thank you very much, and good luck with filing if you need any help to let me know not on the disability thing, I’m not good. But taxes, yes. Thank you.

Caller 25:00
Thank you very much,

Dr. Friday 25:02
All right. And let’s see where we’ve got let’s go ahead and hit Ron real quick, Ron?

Caller 25:10
Hello.

Dr. Friday 25:11
Hey, Ron, what can I do for you?

Caller 25:14
Okay, I’m a tax preparer. I have had a number of my customers, I have postponed filing until July 15.

Dr. Friday 25:28
I know that feeling.

Caller 25:29
Yes, I’m sure you do. If they haven’t filed their 2019 return, how are they going to have a base for a stimulus payment? If it’s based on [inaudible]?

Dr. Friday 25:49
Great question. Here’s the answer, Ron, they said they’re going to use 2018 if you haven’t filed your 2019. Then they’re going to actually have us, the individuals, whatever, when we file 2020, we’re reconciling that difference. So it’s gonna be fun because you know, being a tax person, every year different from some of these people, it’s not like our people all work the same job every single day. Some people do, but a large number of our clients have differences, sell real estate, do this, do that. So it’s going to be interesting. Children change, they get older every year. If they’re basing it on 18. They’re saying they should know that the child was 17 in 2019, therefore the credit won’t be issued. I don’t know how fast this is all going to be done so if you haven’t filed 19, it shouldn’t be a big stressful situation. If 19 is a big difference than 18, there will be a reconciliation when we file 2020 taxes.

Caller 26:46
Good answer, thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 26:48
Thank you, Ron. I appreciate you and the work you’re doing, talk to you later. All right, then we have Marge. Hello Marge, let’s get you in before the break.

Caller 26:57
Hello, Dr. Friday. Regular IRA, I thought I heard that you were able to take out up to $100,000 and not be taxed on it.

Dr. Friday 27:11
No, what you heard was that you can take out up to $100,000 and not hit a penalty on it. If you can show that you lost your job, or you had to stay home with children, or that you were diagnosed with one of the two viruses, Coronaviruses that are out there.

Caller 27:29
Oh, it sounded too good to be true. Thank you so much.

Dr. Friday 27:32
It was. Thank you, sweetheart. Bye. Why don’t we take a quick break and if some of you would like to pick up the phone, this is actually great because the questions you guys are asking there’s a lot of people listening that would love to ask these questions. I say this all the time. A) there is no stupid questions B) There are some really brave people willing to make the phone calls into a radio station and a lot of people are not but they’re listening. The phone number to call in will be 615-737-9986 and we’re gonna be right back with the doctor Friday.

All righty, we are back live here in the studio and again, appreciate all the phone calls, guys. It makes the show so much more interesting than people just hearing my wonderful voice. Alright, so it looks like the first call that came in would be, John. So let’s go ahead hit John. What can I do for you?

Caller 28:40
I have three daughters in college, and we still claim them as dependents, they’re 21 but they filed tax returns. Will they be getting anything?

Dr. Friday 28:50
So do they file tax returns as your dependents or do they filed them on their own.

Caller 28:57
They filed theirs on their own but we claim them as dependent on ours.

Dr. Friday 29:02
So they file as dependents on their tax returns. I mean, you can’t have both ways you can’t both get the credit for the same person. So if you’re claiming them as dependents on yours and taking the educational credit and things on your tax return, then they are not getting that credit on this. So, therefore, right now my answer to that question is going to be they will not get the money, because you have already gotten credit for their $500 plus educational credit up to 25 for each child, depending on their situation unless they’re full rides or whatever.

Caller 29:36
Okay. All righty. Thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 29:38
All right. No worries, mate. Thanks. I will tell you guys, it’s possible that I’m wrong on that one. I haven’t seen anything telling me one way or the other. I do have a lot of clients that have that but that is going to be my answer until we otherwise see. All right, let’s go to Bill. Hey, Bill, what can I do for you?

Caller 29:56
Hey, yeah, I got a question. I got cancer in 2016 into 2017. I worked a little bit in the beginning of 2017. And then completely came out of work. I fell off a boat and broke my back. So I know how much I owe for 2017. I was put on Social Security Disability two years ago, but it’s been all [inaudible]. I haven’t received anything from Social Security Disability other than $50 a month because I was receiving workman’s comp and I pleaded my last workman’s comp in September. I was supposed to go back on the social security disability, but they would only give me $50 a week, and they said, because of the holidays, I wouldn’t see any of the retroactive funds until February of 2020. So that being said, I decided I’m going back to work so I did a program called “Back To Work” as a program to security disability. They let you go back to work for 90 days. So I started the job in December, and today that was still in the taxes on it because I have one month to claim into summer. I still haven’t received my retroactive social security disability. So I’m kind of curious to see what happens where I just file my taxes today. I haven’t done taxes since 2017. I’m on disability but I’m a “Back To Work” program through social security disability.

Dr. Friday 31:28
So you’re gonna be one of those unique situations. They say in the law, that they’re going to look at each Social Security beneficiary and see if they’re going to get it or not. I mean, in all honesty, Bill, you will have the money in 2020. I’m assuming it’s less than $75,000 if you’re single. So if you don’t get the check now, the credit is still refundable through the year 2020. So it may be that you may not get a check today. Or this week or this month, but you may get one when you file your 2020 taxes. And it may be that you won’t even be required to file 2020. It just depends on how much work you’re still doing. And if they’re going to send you that Social Security retroactive or not, there’s a lot of “ifs” in that conversation.

Caller 32:17
So this file is for 2019.

Dr. Friday 32:21
Did you earn more than $2500?

Caller 32:25
Did I make more? I made $6,000-$7,000 for the month of December. So the whole year of last year, basically, I made $6900, I believe.

Dr. Friday 32:33
Okay. So based on that, just from what you’re saying, you should qualify for the stimulus anyways. I mean, not even based on the whole security thing. You should be based on the fact that you earn more than 2500 on that. So I think from what I’m reading, you should be qualified just from your earnings. Okay.

Caller 32:52
Thank you. I appreciate it.

Dr. Friday 32:53
Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. All right. Thanks for holding guys. I know I’m taking a little longer here. Why don’t we hit Bruce next? Bruce out of Clarksville, what can I do for you?

Caller 33:03
I tripped over the road. I said [inaudible] take the deduction. I’m trying to find out if that’s correct or not.

Dr. Friday 33:12
Are you a W-2 or 1099 driver?

Caller 33:16
W-2

Dr. Friday 33:17
No, you do not. They’ve removed that in 2018 from the tax law for any employees, including my truck drivers.

Caller 33:26
Alright, thank you ma’am.

Dr. Friday 33:27
Oh, no worries. Thanks. All right, let’s move on to looks like Mike. Mike, what can I do for you?

Caller 33:36
Yeah, I had a question. I’m self-employed and have been doing the 1099 and I understand I have to sign up for unemployment. Have they updated that site yet?

Dr. Friday 33:48
My understanding is no. Because of the fact that they had to close some of the buildings and a lot of the people are working from home. You know, so it is taking longer than they would have liked according to what the governor said that the security is supposed to be updating. As of Friday, at least I did not see where it was updated for my subcontractors.

Caller 34:11
Okay. My second question, it’s been forever since I’ve drawn unemployment, I’m assuming that’s all taxable income?

Dr. Friday 34:18
Yes. To my knowledge, I mean, is right now based on you know, what we have prior unless the state. We’re going to be having two sides of the state, and then that can be providing like $600, possibly up to $600 more for each beneficiary. So the question is, is it gonna come in two checks? Is it going to be partially taxable and partially not? Again, I’m sorry, I’m not much help on that conversation. They haven’t passed down. I’m going to prepare you for the worst and say, yes, it’s going to be taxable, just as if you had been working. It was taxable, this would be taxable as well.

Caller 34:56
I appreciate that help there.

Dr. Friday 34:58
No problem. Thanks, Chris. Great question, too. A lot of subcontractors out there, guys. Thanks. All right, and let’s see here. The next one is going to be Joseph. Hey Joseph, what can I do for you?

Caller 35:10
Hey Dr. Friday. So six years ago, I went blind and was put on disability and of course, I can’t work. I was told by the Social Security office until I hit 24,000 I didn’t have to pay taxes. But my question is, with a serious package would I qualify to get the money?

Dr. Friday 35:32
Yes, and you don’t need to file taxes it Specifically says people on disability Social Security or any of that required that you if you’re receiving those benefits, you do not need to file tax returns they will get it from the Social Security Administration and issue the checks through them.

Caller 35:48
Okay, because I have a son, so I would get what, 12 for me and five for him?

Dr. Friday 35:56
Is he getting so security as well?

Caller 35:59
He gets a dependency check. Yes, ma’am.

Dr. Friday 36:02
Yes. So would show up through the disability. Absolutely, yes. You should have that.

Caller 36:08
Okay, I have another question. I have a friend who has a son and his father died and his son gets a check because his dad passed. She was just looking into how she would qualify for the money and also. Because she doesn’t work though. As I said, her son gets a social security check.

Dr. Friday 36:34
I mean, this again, these are all unique situations. My answer to that is going to be no because she’s not going to be listed under Social Security. They may send a check to her for the son $500 possibly, but if she’s not receiving benefits of some sort, benefits from Social Security or disability, Social Security or veterans. My understanding is, there is there’s not going to be a stimulus for her.

Caller 37:02
Okay, thank you.

Dr. Friday 37:04
No problem. Thanks. All right, those were great question guys. I truly appreciate all of them. We’re going to take one more break here and if you’ve been waiting to ask some questions because these are really good ones. Again, not always other questions I know just for the person calling in but it’s for a lot of the listeners. There are so many different situations. Could you imagine the person writing this tax law? I mean, all honesty, you have all these unique different situations, who’s going to get who’s not. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get better clarity as the next week comes on. Phone number here in the studio 615-737-9986. We’re going to take our last break, we’ll be right back.

Sorry about that. We are live here. So if you have a question, you can reach us live in-studio at 615-737-9986. We got about eight minutes left 615-737-9986. You can give me a call. If not, we’ll keep talking. All right. So let’s see here, we have two callers. Why don’t we go to Clara first Clara, what can I do for you?

Caller 38:20
Yes. My question is if you currently owe income taxes and are paying the government, will you receive your check?

Dr. Friday 38:29
You will. Yes, they will be sending checks out to anyone that still has a balance with the IRS, you will receive a check.

Caller 38:37
Thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 38:39
Thank you. Great question, because that’s been one of my big email ones. I will tell you that’s a big one. All right. Let’s go to Joe. Joe, what can I do for you?

Caller 38:49
Dr. Friday, thank you for taking my call. I have a family member that just returned from the Philippines last year and went back to work. He’s a citizen, and he did file taxes this year already. Will he get a check?

Dr. Friday 39:07
He should, as long as he is a citizen. Bottom line is, yes. If he’s filed taxes in the United States, and he’s here, as far as I know, you should be in great shape. If his income is within the right dollar amounts. He should be fine.

Caller 39:24
All right, thank you very much.

Dr. Friday 39:26
Thank you. Great question. Again, I appreciate it very much. All right. I do want to talk a little bit about unemployment while my guy is working so hard in the studio seriously, thank you for the phone calls, even if he’s going to be exhausted and need a break. Unemployment is paying, and some employers have already put in notices with the state in which you have already been listed. So if you’re an employer and you’ve had to layoff a lot of employees, it may be beneficial for you to contact the state on behalf of all your employees versus each employee trying to get it. There are systems out there right on the website to be able to help you do whatever it is that you need to do to keep everybody working. My understanding is, if you’re self-employed, would I be eligible? Those who are self-employed or 1099 are not eligible to collect unemployment benefits. The president declared disaster you’d be eligible for disaster unemployment assistance, though. So they’re calling it disaster unemployment assistance, not typical unemployment. My understanding is, you do have some benefits now under our disaster relief. All right. Let’s go ahead and go back to the phones for a few minutes. We have Robert. Hey, Robert, what can I do for you?

Caller 40:39
Yes, I’m a truck driver. I haven’t filed my 2019 taxes. I haven’t had to take any time off because of the virus. Am I going to get some of this stimulus check?

Dr. Friday 40:58
You could, it would depend on your actual taxable income based on 2018. So if you file and if you’re single and your income was $75,000- $99,000, you will get 1200 or less someplace between there. They’re, they’re giving a window. So, and then if you’re married 150 to 199,000, a check of some sort will be issued to you. So yes, they still should give you a check. As long as you’re within those numbers.

Caller 41:27
Okay. Is this a FEMA check?

Dr. Friday 41:32
No, this will not be a FEMA check. This is going to come just from the US Treasury.

Caller 41:37
Okay, because if it’s coming from FEMA, I don’t want it.

Dr. Friday 41:43
I hear you. I know, but this is just gonna be U.S. tax dollars coming back to U.S. tax people.

Caller 41:49
I was a hurricane Katrina victim, lost everything I had. They gave me $2,000 and then took $5,000 back.

Dr. Friday 41:57
Yeah, I’ve heard those stories before FEMA doesn’t say In the work for a lot of people. I appreciate you and sorry that you had to go through that, drive safely.

Caller 42:07
Thank you.

Dr. Friday 42:08
Alright, let’s go ahead and hit Matt in Smyrna. Hey, Matt.

Caller 42:13
Hey, Dr. Friday, thank you for taking my call. My question is around, do I have to fill out a form in order to get this, is it automatic? And then also, is it gonna be a paper check or automated deposit?

Dr. Friday 42:29
Perfect, two great questions. One, it’s automatic. We don’t have a choice when they’re going to do it. They’re gonna base it on your 18′ or 19′ your income depending on what it was the number of children you had during those years. So if you had a baby in 19′, you might want to file your 19′ sooner versus later. I don’t know how fast if we file them next week, will it make a difference over they already using the 18th? How fast did they get into it? If you have a direct deposit on your 2018 or 19′ the latest one they will use that account to direct deposit your money. If you need to make a change to that information because you closed that bank account, or whatever they will, then the check will bounce back and they’ll issue a paper check. If your address is not right, you do need to file the 8822 to make sure you have the current address. Hopefully, that helps.

Caller 43:15
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much.

Dr. Friday 43:17
Great questions. Thank you, Matt, very much. All right. Let’s keep going here. We’ve got Chad. Hey, Chad, what can I do for you?

Caller 43:24
Hey, I know the last stimulus, If my memory serves me correctly. Basically, it was sort of like in advance of what you would get as a refund at the end of the year when you filed your taxes. Is this gonna be the same as bad or is this gonna be in addition to?

Dr. Friday 43:38
An addition to. They’re not doing the same thing as before, where they’re just giving us advances in the people that didn’t have the advanced get to keep the money in new ways, whatever. This one is supposed to be in addition to. but they are going to be using your 2020 taxes to kind of finalize the numbers. So you know if your income is higher in 2020, that was in 2019. There could be a payback they’re not sure how they’re going to do that it hasn’t been written yet. But it isn’t going to be like it was in 2009 where they are eight or whatever where they gave us money and then they turn around said applied it gets whatever money we had coming back.

Caller 44:15
Right. All right, appreciate it.

Dr. Friday 44:18
Perfect. All right, we got a few more minutes here guys. We’re trying to make these as quickly as possible. I’ve only got one minute so I’ll play back alright, so I’m not going to be able to make it as quickly as possible. I’m so sorry guys. We’re gonna have to hang up on the few people that are there. If you want you can reach me at 615-367-0819. I am working on Saturday so you can hang up the phone now and call me direct 615-367-0819 if you have a question that you need to be answered, otherwise, we will be doing this again next Saturday. Also my website Dr.Friday.com. If you have appointments and you need to reschedule, we will be opening up our calendar again for June and July appointments. So we can get all of our tax people back on there. I know a lot of people had to stay home and do what they have to do. But again, sorry, I couldn’t get to all the calls. I totally appreciate you guys calling. If you have questions that you need to reach me 615-367-0819 email me Friday@Dr.Friday.com. Or check me out on the web Dr.friday.com. Dr. Friday.com, goodness gracious, almost went there. So if you have issues with the IRS, I’m an enrolled agent licensed with the Internal Revenue Service to do offering compromises payment plans, basically to represent you in front of the IRS or if you just need help doing your taxes. Hopefully each week we’ll be able to bring more and more information about what’s happening with this new stimulus. And how the checks did is only a one time check. It shouldn’t be multiple checks. It’s going to be mostly for direct deposit for those that can get it, otherwise, it will be a paper check that will be coming in the mail. There’s a lot of special situations, “I’m divorced, I’m single, he claimed the children last year, I claim them this year, how’s it going to happen because only one parent is going to get the money?” Whoever had the child, the tax year happens is going to be the way it happens. I’m looking at some of these emails that came in. So if you have those kinds of situations and maybe the conversation you need to have. Obviously, if he claimed them in 18, and you need to claim them in 19, maybe you need to file your taxes pronto. But maybe you claim them in 18, and your ex gets the claim in 19. So theoretically, if he’s filed his taxes, he may get the money. It’s going to be really crazy. All right, so 615-367-0819.