Despite social media posts, you will not have to pay back coronavirus stimulus payment

By: Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

You may have seen posts popping up on your social media accounts warning you that the stimulus payment from the federal government will have to be paid back.

Like many unattributed social media posts, what you read may not be true.

But the two governmental agencies in charge of the coronavirus stimulus payment distribution said that is false.

The U.S Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service told the AP that the money will not have to be paid back on next year’s taxes.

The Treasury said in an emailed statement to the AP, “This is not an advance and there is absolutely no obligation to pay it back.”

Some of the confusion can apparently be attributed to the wording from the bill that greenlit the spending package where it was called an “advance refund” but that means it is because the money is being distributed before tax returns would be filed for the 2020 tax year, the AP reported.

Tax forms for next year haven’t been printed, and the IRS said the stimulus package won’t have any impact on income deductions for 2020, the AP reported.