Stimulus Update: The Answers to These 5 Questions Determine How Much Stimulus Money You'll Get in 2022

Will you be entitled to additional stimulus money this year? These questions can help you figure out how much.

Demand for additional stimulus money is high across the United States, with more than 3 million people signing a petition calling for ongoing checks. But will you actually end up with an additional payment in your bank account this year?

Whether you'll receive more money -- and the amount you'll receive -- is going to depend on your answers to five key questions.

1. Did you add a new dependent last year?

The American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law in March of 2021, provided $1,400 payments for adults and eligible dependents. The expanded Child Tax Credit also provided payments of $3,600 per dependent child under age 6 and $3,000 for older dependent children.

The $1,400 stimulus payments and half of the expanded Child Tax Credit were both paid out in 2021 by the IRS. However, if you added a new dependent in 2021, the IRS wouldn't have known it so you wouldn't have received the money for that dependent.

You could receive as much as $5,000 per child dependent added last year, and will need to file a 2021 tax return to alert the IRS to your new dependent in order to get this money.

2. Are you a parent entitled to the expanded Child Tax Credit?

As mentioned above, the American Rescue Plan Act provided an expanded Child Tax Credit. The IRS paid half this amount out in 2021, with the money coming in the form of $250 or $300 monthly payments delivered from July to December.

Half of the credit thus remains unpaid. If you are a parent entitled to it, you could receive between $1,500 and $1,800 in additional tax credits when filing 2021 taxes.

3. Did you file a recent tax return or otherwise provide the IRS with your financial details?

If you did not file a recent tax return, or use the IRS form for non-filers, then the IRS may have been unable to send you any stimulus money in 2021.

You could be entitled to a $1,400 check for each adult and dependent in your family, as well as an additional Child Tax Credit worth between $3,000 and $3,600 per child once you alert the IRS to your eligibility for this money.

You will need to submit a tax return this year -- even if you normally do not file -- in order to get any of the stimulus money you should have been entitled to last year but that didn't come.

4. Is your state offering stimulus payments?

A number of states are offering coronavirus stimulus money, including Florida. The amount you may be entitled to this year will vary depending on where you live, your income, and whether your state is taking action to provide financial relief.

The best way to find out if you're eligible for funds from your state is to check with the Department of Revenue where you live.

5. Will the federal government take action to provide additional stimulus money?

Finally, the last big question that determines how much stimulus money you'll get in 2022 is whether the federal government will act to provide more financial relief.

Democrats have proposed additional stimulus money to help Americans cope with rising gas prices, while some lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have proposals to provide additional Child Tax Credit funds.

Answering this question is impossible without being able to predict the future, so you'll need to watch the news out of D.C. to find out if more funds could come your way even if you received all of the stimulus money you were due in 2021.