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Some Stimulus Plan Measures Extended

The Stimulus Plan came into effect as a law in February 2009 and came to be known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Most of the measures and tax reliefs provided by the Act was for a period of one to two years, but seeing the situation there has been additional bills passed, so that some Stimulus Measures are Extended.

One of the measures which has helped a lot of unemployed people was the COBRA Stimulus Plan, which provided a subsidy of 65% on the premium of health insurance if the person was unemployed. This subsidy was provided for people who lost their jobs involuntarily due to the economic downturn and recession. As per the original COBRA Stimulus Plan the individuals losing their jobs between 1st September 2008 and 31st December 2009 were only qualified for the subsidy. But now this stimulus measure has been extended as there is no improvement in the economy and people are still losing their jobs for no fault of their own. The date has been extended to 28th February 2010 and an individual can re-enroll into COBRA and claim the subsidy of 65%.

Another major stimulus measure which is helping a lot of families is the Emergency Unemployment Compensation. The unemployment benefits have been very useful for families and they have been able to manage to quite a great extent because of this measure. There has been no let up in the economic situation and still there are unemployed people who have not been able to find a job. Due to this situation the legislation has extended this stimulus measure of unemployment benefits to another 14 weeks. Currently there are about 26 states who have an unemployment rate of more than 8.5% and they have been given six weeks more for the availability of these unemployment benefits, and so unemployed people will be having a total of 20 extra weeks for availing the unemployment benefits.

For people trying to buy their first home in these troubled times, there was a stimulus measure which provided a maximum $8000 deduction on tax. People who bought their first homes between 8th April 2008 and 1st December 2009 were only qualified for this deduction. Thankfully this stimulus measure has been extended beyond the proposed date and the tax deduction is available for first home buyers up to 30th April 2010. People who already have a home will also qualify for the same period, for a credit of up to $6500, who are buying new residence.

This new residence will have to be their principle residence but should have lived in their old homes for at least five years without any gaps. This five-year period should be within an eight year time frame before buying the second house. In either cases the cost of the new home should be within $800,000. If it is an individual buyer than his income should not be more than $125,000 and a couple’s income should not exceed $225,000 to qualify for this stimulus measure.

Tags: credit, deduction, Income, Insurance, jobs, law, Stimulus, tax

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