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Criteria to get $2,000 Donald Trump has promised to almost all Americans if you already have a job
Donald Trump’s promise to hand out $2,000 checks to nearly every American has sparked a flurry of questions - particularly about whether the payments will actually materialize and what criteria you need to meet to be able to get them.
The proposed payments, dubbed "tariff dividends," are meant to be funded by taxes collected on foreign goods, and Trump says they'll be distributed sometime “in the middle of next year.”
As more people try to figure out whether they'll receive the money, confusion is growing around the criteria.
So far, there’s no official written plan, but voices online have begun breaking down what we know so far - especially when it comes to income limits, tax filing status, and eligibility for married couples.
What if you're out of a job or don't file taxes?
SSA expert and YouTuber Blind to Billionaire addressed growing concerns from people asking whether being unemployed, collecting Social Security, or not filing taxes will prevent them from receiving a check.
His message was simple: “It is based on your income - that’s it. I’ll make it very clear here, is your income below $75,000 a year, as an individual, yes or no? That’s it - that’s all you need to know. If your answer is yes, you are most likely eligible for this.”
What happens if you do have a job?
He went on to say, “Generally, the threshold they put in place for income is $75,000 as an individual, $150,000 dollars as a married couple.”
The key factor isn't whether you’re working - it's how much you’re making. So, those worried about being out of work can breathe a little easier if their income still falls under the limit.
Details still unclear as the government holds back a formal plan
Even with this insight, there’s still a level of uncertainty. The YouTuber warned that information is constantly shifting, and “the government do not have a written plan for this” yet. That means a lot of what’s being shared now is unofficial and could change.
Despite the lack of concrete details, the rough framework suggests that Americans earning under the threshold - whether single or married - are likely to be included in the payout plan.
Trump himself described the future checks as “dividends” for individuals of “moderate income,” hinting that the goal is to support lower and middle earners, not high-income households.
Will the $2,000 cheques ever materialize and when will they arrive?
The president confirmed last week that his much-hyped tariff dividend payments won’t be ready until 2026.
"It will be next year... The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, per The New York Post.
The checks would be funded through Trump’s aggressive tariff policy, a strategy now facing serious legal and logistical hurdles.
“We will see,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a recent Fox Business interview, when asked if the plan would happen at all. “We need legislation for that.”
The $2,000 payments were pitched by Trump as a “dividend” from tariff revenues, but they would need congressional approval, which is far from guaranteed.
Even the form of the payments is undecided. Bessent previously said the money “could come in lots of forms”, hinting at tax credits or other benefits potentially tied to Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
There’s also the issue of funding, as Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs - an unconventional use of a statute that doesn’t mention tariffs at all - have generated around $90 billion since their inception through September 23, according to US Customs and Border Patrol.
Overall, Trump’s full slate of tariffs brought in $195.9 billion through August 31 of the fiscal year 2025.
But that’s still far short of the estimated cost, as Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, estimated that limiting the checks to individuals earning under $100,000 would cost about $300 billion.