Economic Incentive Rebate

Here's a handy link from the IRS.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...177937,00.html

You can see the date you should receive your rebate as well as a calculator there. The media has promoted this more as absolute amounts but in reality it isn't. It's "up to" certain amounts based on your 2007 return.

Hope this is helpful to some of you. :)

Yup, I'll be one of the first to get my rebate, and my BF Chris will be the last one on earth getting his. :D

We we are getting ours in May :D

The bigger question is what do you plan to do with it...anything special?

Mine is going to pay a credit card bill :mad: ...that was used to purchase 2 new snakes :D

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Originally Posted by lord jackel

The bigger question is what do you plan to do with it...anything special?

Mine is going to pay a credit card bill :mad: ...that was used to purchase 2 new snakes :D

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Well I do have plans for it..

It starts with a "D" and ends in "aytona"

Since my refund was DD, so will my incentive rebate. I need to withdraw it and put it in an envelope to take to Daytona!

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Since my refund was DD, so will my incentive rebate. I need to withdraw it and put it in an envelope to take to Daytona!

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Yes and in the mean time I am trying to run down my PIN number..:rage::rage::rage::rage: I will not miss out again because of it.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Yes and in the mean time I am trying to run down my PIN number..:rage::rage::rage::rage: I will not miss out again because of it.

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Hey - I offered to cover her for you!

LOL well that and that male I am needing like another hole in the head.. :D

I'm going to send mine right back to the government. There is one tiny little fact your government is not telling you about this. It's not free money. This is an advance on next years refund. It's little more than a loan that we will all be expected to pay back next year. I'm not falling for it.

The smart thing? Put that money into a C.D. Make some money off of Uncle Sam if it truly does have to be paid back!

Jenn it is free money ... it does not need to be claimed on next yrs taxes and it will not come out of your tax rebate next yr

good thing i got what i was expecting i already spent my money :D

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Originally Posted by JoshJP7

Jenn it is free money ... it does not need to be claimed on next yrs taxes and it will not come out of your tax rebate next yr

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Agreed:

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Q. Is my Stimulus Payment taxable?

A. No. You will not owe tax on your payment when you file your 2008 federal income tax return. But you should keep a copy of the IRS letter you receive later this year listing the amount of your payment.

Q. If my Stimulus Payment is not going to affect my 2008 tax refund or increase the tax I owe next year, why is it I need to retain the letter that lists how much I received?

A. In the event you do not qualify for the full amount on your 2007 return but you do on your 2008 return, you will need to have the letter as a record of the amount you previously received. [New 4/11/08]

Q. Will the payment I receive in 2008 reduce my 2008 refund or increase the amount I owe for 2008?

A. No, the Stimulus Payment will not reduce your refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2008 return.

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Quoted from the IRS website:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...179181,00.html

Well, judging by how much my investments lost according to my first quarter financial statements, probably the best thing you could do with it is cash the check as soon as you get it and then bury the money in an old mayonnaise jar out behind your house.

Im using mine to pay off a few snakes :carrot:, pay a few bills :( and keep the rest aside for a rainy day.. or a new snake, whichever comes first :D

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Well, judging by how much my investments lost according to my first quarter financial statements, probably the best thing you could do with it is cash the check as soon as you get it and then bury the money in an old mayonnaise jar out behind your house.

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LOL I feel the same way.


The money may not come out of next years taxes, but it is hardly free. There is no free lunch.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Q. Will the payment I receive in 2008 reduce my 2008 refund or increase the amount I owe for 2008?

A. No, the Stimulus Payment will not reduce your refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2008 return.

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Leave it to the IRS to lie with technicalities. The reason it won't alter your filing next year is because it is part of the base tax calculation, and not a bottom line adjustment.

And no, there is no such thing as free money. If you get money you didn't pay in, then someone is paying in that isn't getting money.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

probably the best thing you could do with it is cash the check as soon as you get it and then bury the money in an old mayonnaise jar out behind your house.

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Unfortunately, even buried in that mayonnaise jar, it will lose value as the dollar continues to plummet. Buy gold, or convert it to Euros and bury those if you want a good investment :twisted:

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Originally Posted by Brimstone111888

The money may not come out of next years taxes, but it is hardly free. There is no free lunch.

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Of course it comes out of next years taxes, they only said that it wouldn't alter your refund or taxes owed at the end of the year (not the same thing at all).

I think we are getting ours in June. Our 4th wedding anniversary is May 22nd. So Shaun and I are going to do something special. Its been a very trying 4 years for us. Lots of things have happened, almost lost our son, bad car accident, finger amputation, the list goes on... Our marriage has remained strong and we have only grown closer through it all. Now that things have calmed down, we have paid off every last ounce of debt we have, we are going to celebrate.

The rest is going to be saved for the kids, school stuff in Aug. ( my little boy is starting kindergarten:O) and to buy some camping stuff so we can spend our summer with our children, having fun and not worrying about a thing!!

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Unfortunately, even buried in that mayonnaise jar, it will lose value as the dollar continues to plummet. Buy gold, or convert it to Euros and bury those if you want a good investment :twisted:

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Hi,

Beware the euro's - we're on the teeter totter too at the moment.:(

And they won't send me one of these payments on account of not being American or living in America - fair enough when you think about it. :P


dr del

I was on short term disability pay for about half of last year. For some reason taxes weren't taken out of it. I owe over $1k to the government. Since I owe money, I won't be getting the $300 refund...it'll come out of what I already owe. However, I'll bet I'll bet charged tax penalties on the whole amount.

aaargh! that stupid calc is telling me I won't be getting as much as I had hoped!:mad: So much for an ACTUAL engagement ring with that check!:(
eh well.....I'm sure she'll understand....

awesome If they actually transmit when they say I will have mine the beginning of may. Yay money for my new morph. Sweet. J/k I gotta do what they are hoping people aren't going to be doing... paying bills. Once I pay off a credit card or three than I will get my new morph. hehehe. Man I hate those evil cards.. :devilish:

Ugh, I'm dead last!

JonV

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Originally Posted by dr del

Beware the euro's - we're on the teeter totter too at the moment.

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Teeter totter or not, the dollar is sinking like a lead balloon in comparison...I would go gold before any paper currency though.

http://ichart.finance.yahoo.com/2y?eurusd=x

Not gold... SNAKES!!! :P

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Unfortunately, even buried in that mayonnaise jar, it will lose value as the dollar continues to plummet. Buy gold, or convert it to Euros and bury those if you want a good investment :twisted:

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:rofl: the euro (and just about every other monetary unit is going down too.....gold's doing great though.

personally i am going to do some work on the ol' homestead. i don't really believe in money or worldy possessions these days so i could care less. i figure if i can do some landscaping and paint my shutters then i'll be content with that $1500.

SAAAWEEEET both hubby and i will be getting ours around May 9th, lord knows with Ethan having been in the hospital again we NEED IT! for bills, snakes and maybe another rack. were getting our second rack this weekend. now i need to drag out our paperwork and see what were going to be able to collect.


thanks joanna for posting this!

We are paying off debt :) I don't see why people think that it is such a dismal thing to pay off debt. We take out loans for things, and get the things, that we would never have been able to own if it weren't for the lenders. Then we gripe about paying it back with the interest that we agreed to when we signed that promissory note (that we DID read... riiight?) lol. I have vowed not to go into anymore debt until we balance out what we owe now, and this makes me feel good; that we are building our credit as a young married couple.
But what is this about it having to be paid back next year? if so, I will send it right back. I don't need or want a forced government loan put onto us.

i think its a bit humerus how this is supposed to be an economic stimulus, but it seems most people are planning on paying off debt. just seems to me that while these things do help people, it will most likely do very little in the way of stimulating out economy.
(words of a Bio student, not and econ. major)

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

Leave it to the IRS to lie with technicalities. The reason it won't alter your filing next year is because it is part of the base tax calculation, and not a bottom line adjustment.

And no, there is no such thing as free money. If you get money you didn't pay in, then someone is paying in that isn't getting money.

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Yeah I don't know if anyone has heard, but we're trillions of dollars in debt. If we're handing out billions of dollars, that's just going to be more debt that we'll eventually have to pay for with higher taxes.
Not to mention the interest.
OH GOD the interest....

Oh and I don't get one because they don't consider my fellowship to be income in this regard. Although strangely enough, they did see it as income when it came to PAYING taxes...interesting...

We will be using our incentive rebate to restock our savings from our tax bill.

We owed the IRS alittle over $2200. But we will get back $400 from the state and the $1200 incentive from the IRS.

Another reason to go to a uniform tax system on all good and services and NO income tax. After all is said and done, I will only be paying the government $600 yet they will probably spend that tax money on processing each of my incoming payments and outgoing payments.

Our government needs a kick in the ASS!!!

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

I don't see why people think that it is such a dismal thing to pay off debt.

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The main reason is because debt payments don't do anything to stimulate the economy (in fact, much of this money will head directly out of the US economy), and that's supposedly the whole point. It's the responsible thing to do, but it's of the day-late dollar-short variety, in that we wouldn't need stimulation if we were all being responsible in the first place.

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Originally Posted by Ginevive

But what is this about it having to be paid back next year? if so, I will send it right back.

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You won't have to pay anything back next year, since this money is technically an overpayment you've already made.

How this incentive thing works is as follows:

1) Congress critters decide they want to see more spending to stimulate the economy, so they lower the tax rate on the lower tax brackets.

2) The lower tax rate is then pro-rated based on how much has been paid in this year already. People who are below the bracket get nothing, those in the bracket get a % based on their payments this year, those in higher brackets get the full amount of the adjustment (those in the highest brackets are a wash, since their tax liability is not going to be drastically effected enough to matter).

You can, of course, send your check right back and give the government an interest-free loan, if you like, but it makes more sense for you to invest that money, get some return on it (or pay debt and avoid the associated negative-returns).

So, as for the "it won't effect your refund next year"...lies with numbers...always lies with numbers.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. :) I am not sure how much I will qualify for since I haven't looked into it yet based on our joint income last year.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

We will be using our incentive rebate to restock our savings from our tax bill.

We owed the IRS alittle over $2200. But we will get back $400 from the state and the $1200 incentive from the IRS.

Another reason to go to a uniform tax system on all good and services and NO income tax. After all is said and done, I will only be paying the government $600 yet they will probably spend that tax money on processing each of my incoming payments and outgoing payments.

Our government needs a kick in the ASS!!!

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Hooray for flat tax! 1) Drug dealers/hookers etc are now subject to tax 2) so many people-hours are wasted on the current tax code.

PS "kick in the ASS" implies you will vote neither Democrat nor Republican. :-)

JonV

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Originally Posted by ctrlfreq

It's the responsible thing to do, but it's of the day-late dollar-short variety, in that we wouldn't need stimulation if we were all being responsible in the first place.

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Here I will have to disagree with you. Our need for economic stimulation is made worse by people's fiscal responsibility. Our entire economy is based on people continually buying junk they don't need so that someone else will have a job and buy junk they don't need and the cycle propogates....i mean really, sit down and think about it. When you buy Oxy-Clean, that ensures Billy Mays has a job for the next 6 months selling stuff on TV. Then Billy Mays can go out and buy XYZ so that WVU has a job...and on and on.

I will concede the point regarding the housing market and the whole sub-prime mortgages, though.

I think back to my days studying Chinese philosophers (Chuang Tzu, for example). I apologize if I don't get this 100% correct, but according to that philosophy it would be "good" for us all to do pretty much nothing. We'd "own" nothing, but we'd also "owe" nothing. We would just "be".

In the west our philosophy is the opposite. It is "good" if we all "own" lots of stuff and as a result we tend to have a lot of debt.

Sorry for the rant, I guess my point is that our economy is dependent on propogating a culture of buying stuff you don't need.

JonV