Canadians with U.S. citizenship, who may not have paid taxes in the U.S. for decades, may still qualify for the Trump administration’s one-time pandemic support payment. In order to receive the payment, Canadians with dual U.S. citizenship and U.S. citizens living and working in Canada must have filed a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service for 2018 or 2019 reporting their global income.
The problem for many dual citizens in Canada is that while many have been filing their taxes with the IRS for years, there is no bank account attached to their filings because they have not had to pay penalties or receive payments. Without a U.S.-based bank account, Canadians with dual citizenship don’t have a way to receive an electronic payment. They have to wait for cheques to be sent out to the addresses on their last income tax filings.
A major difference between the Canadian and American pandemic benefits is that in Canada, people must apply to receive it, but in the U.S. the payment is automatically disbursed, providing the person filed a tax return in 2018 or 2019.
IRS’s Economic Impact Payment (EIP):
The IRS’s Economic Impact Payment (EIP) is similar to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB); however, while Canadians who qualify for the CERB can claim it for a maximum of four four-week periods the EIP is a one-time payment.
U.S. citizens and U.S. resident aliens will receive the Economic Impact Payment of $1,200 ($1,687 CAD) for individual or head of household filers, and $2,400 ($3,374 CAD) for married filing jointly if they are not a dependent of another taxpayer and have a work-eligible Social Security number with adjusted gross income up to:
- $75,000 ($105,400 CAD) for individuals if their filing status was single or married filing separately,
- $112,500 ($158,100 CAD) for the head of household filers, and
- $150,000 ($210,800 CAD) for married couples filing joint returns.
Taxpayers will receive a reduced payment if their income is between:
- $75,000 ($105,400 CAD) and $99,000 ($139,200 CAD) if their filing status was single or married filing separately.
- 112,500 ($158,100 CAD) and $136,500 ($192,000 CAD) for the head of household.
- $150,000 ($210,800 CAD) and $198,000 ($278,300 CAD) if their filing status was married filing jointly.
The amount of the reduced payment will be based upon the taxpayer’s specific adjusted gross income.
Eligible retirees and recipients of Social Security retirement, survivor, or disability benefits (SSDI), Railroad Retirement benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) will receive a payment.
Those who don’t usually file a tax return and receive Social Security retirement, survivor, or disability benefits (SSDI), Railroad Retirement benefits, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) also receive automatic payments of $1,200 ($1,687 CAD). While some of these groups receive Form 1099, many in this group don’t typically file tax returns. Many people in these groups are expected to see the automatic $1,200 ($1,687 CAD) payments later, with SSI and VA payments expected to start in May.
For people who have little or no income and didn’t file a tax return or don’t receive any of the federal benefits listed above, they are also eligible for an Economic Impact Payment. They need to register with the Non-Filer tool on IRS.gov as soon as possible so they can receive a payment.