DO PRISONERS GET STIMULUS CHECKS?

The short answer is yes, inmates have received stimulus checks in the past and will likely be eligible for additional COVID-19 relief money on the next round of coronavirus aid.

There are currently more than 2 million inmates in state and federal prisons across the United States. If every one of those incarcerated gets the $1400 stimulus check that Congress is about to approve, it would amount to more than $2,800,000,000

The IRS inspector general confirmed the federal agency did send stimulus checks to prisoners last spring. When Congress passed the CARES Act to authorize the stimulus, it included no restrictions on people in jail or prison getting that money.

“Because Congress did not exclude people in prison or jail, the IRS had no choice but to issue the payments to incarcerated people who otherwise qualified,” explained the Prison Policy Initiative as it analyzed this issue in December.

The IRS later changed its position saying prisoners do not qualify for relief checks and “a payment made to someone who is incarcerated should be returned to the IRS.”

Prisoners filed a class-action lawsuit against the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Secretary, and a federal judge ruled in the inmates’ favor in September. The court ruling says the IRS cannot withhold coronavirus relief payments from individuals who are incarcerated, and the judge ordered the federal government to stop blocking the payments.

And when Congress passed the second stimulus in December, it again chose not to prohibit inmates from getting a $600 COVID-19 relief payment.

Some prisons and jails have put up roadblocks for prisoners trying to get their stimulus payments or withheld a portion of inmates’ stimulus payments, claiming the facilities are entitled to reimburse themselves for some of the costs of housing prisoners.

Prisoners who are eligible for COVID-19 relief and who did not receive their first or second stimulus payment can claim the stimulus as the Recovery Rebate Credit by filing a 2020 tax return.

So while it’s true prisoners will be eligible for stimulus money, it might not actually get to their pockets depending on the inmates’ past debts such as child support along with whatever the policy is for a particular prison such as cost in incarceration bills.