CARES Act

April 2, 2020Ashley Price

You have probably heard about the $2 Trillion dollar government stimulus that has recently passed through congress. This legislation is the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. We want to take some time and explain how this may impact you as a college student.

Economic Impact Payments:

First and foremost, one large component of the CARES Act are the Economic Impact Payments. Payments of $1,200 will be made to each adult who has a social security number. Payments of $500 will be made to individuals who claim dependents 16 years old and younger. To receive a payment, you must not be claimed as a dependent on anybody else’s tax return. The IRS will use either your direct deposit or address from your 2019 taxes to get the payment to you. Economic Impact Payments will be considered tax free income. If you need to file your taxes, you may do so at myfreetaxes.com.

Federal Student Loans:

While this may not directly impact current students, there will be an automatic suspension of principal and interest payments on federally-held student loans through September 30, 2020. For those participating in Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) programs, suspended payments will count toward the 120 required payments. Student loan borrowers do not need to contact their student loan servicer. The Department of Education has also stopped the collection of defaulted federally-owned student loans including garnishment of wages, the offset of tax refunds, and Social Security benefits

Taxes:

The Federal and state of Utah tax filing and payment deadline has been extended to July 15th, 2020. However, students typically do receive a tax refund. We encourage students to file their 2019 tax return as soon as possible. Any individual that earns less than $68,000 may file their taxes for free at utahtaxhelp.org.

Unemployment Insurance:

Unemployment insurance is administered by each individual state. The amount of unemployment insurance an individual receives varies from state to state. However, the CARES Act includes a $600 weekly increase to what an individual will receive for four months. Unemployment insurance will now cover part-time workers, self-employed workers, or gig economy workers. The CARES Act extended unemployment insurance for 13 additional weeks. If you live in Utah, you can apply for unemployment insurance at jobs.utah.gov

While there are many more components of the CARES Act, we feel these are the main points that will have a direct impact on students. Please reach out to us if you have any further questions! We are open and happy to answer any questions via email at pmmc@sa.utah.edu or phone (801) 585-7379. You may also set up an appointment to meet with us virtually or over the phone at https://financialwellness.utah.edu/counseling.php

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