Tax rebate: What's in it for you

Interpretations of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008--aka the Refund We're Supposed to Spend Act--are dribbling out in the tax world even before the law is signed by President Bush later this week. The IRS is offering bits and pieces of info, including the promise that it will start sending checks by mid-May. There are lots of details still to be worked out. Here's what we do know:

The Act provides up to $600 per single filer, $1,200 per married couples filing jointly with earned income in 2007 of $3000 or more. Each qualifying child you claim will earn you another $300 rebate.

Folks with any combination of earned income, Social Security benefits and certain veterans' benefits of at least $3,000 are eligible for a rebate of $300, or $600 for joint filers. (For more details, click here.)

If for 2007 you owe the IRS less than $600 as a single filer or $1,200 as joint filers, you'll only get a rebate equal to what you owe. For example, if you're a single filer and expect to owe $500 for 2007 but otherwise qualify for the rebate, you'll only get a $500 refund. But next year, you'll have another chance on your 2008 tax return to get the rest of the money.

The higher your income, the less you'll get. The rebate starts to phase out when your earned income reaches $75,000 as a single filer and $150,000 as joint filers. The phase-out for the basic rebate is complete when your adjusted gross income reaches $87,000 as single filer and $174,000 for couples filing jointly. But according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, you're still eligible for the child rebates beyond those income limits. (To determine if you'll get anything, subtract the income ceiling of either $87,000 or $174,000 from your adjusted gross income and multiply that sum by 5 percent. Subtract that result from the maximum you would have received had there been no phase-outs.)

Here are some examples of what taxpayers can get, gleaned from tax experts CCH and the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. And check back here for more details in coming days.

Tax Rebates: What you can expect

Taxpayer                               Qualifying Income                            Rebate
Single                                            $3,000 in Social Security benefits                              $300
Single                                          $50,000 in earned income                                             600
Single/one child                         $50,000 in earned income                                             900
Married couple/two children      $60,000 in earned income                                         1,800
Married couple/four children     $70,000 in earned income                                          2,400
Married couple/two children    $175,000 in adjusted gross income                                 550

Source: CCH  Wolters Kluwer, Joint Committee on Taxation

Comments

[Tracy Wallace]

I'm a single mother of one child and , how much and when will we get this rebate????

[Tobie Stanger (Consumer Reports)]

Tracy,

Check these URLs on the IRS Web site, which should help:

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=181991,00.html

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html