Have you done your 2007 taxes yet?
How did your rebate look compared to previous years?
My entries were pretty much the same as previous years yet while in the past we would get a refund of around $2000, this year it was only $400.
Now I hear about the tax rebate checks they want to send out in May. According to their figures (me/wife/kid) should expect a check for $1500.
So is this whole “government tax rebate check” thing really just a way for them to hold onto your money for another 4 months?
How did your tax return refund this year compare to last?
You are mixing tax years. The economic stimulus package bill just signed means you will be receiving a check as an advance on your tax refund that you will file next year on this year’s income. In other words, the tax refund next year will be reduced by the amount you will receive this coming May.
Interesting. All other things the same this year as last, my refund is about $1K less and coincidentally, my “rebate” should be about $1K. I did find it odd that my refund was so much less with everything else being the same as the previous year, but didn’t connect the two – this makes me wonder if I will even get a refund next year, as what Duckster pointed out is true.
My return’s about $500 higher than last year, even though my lifetime learning credit was much, much smaller, around $44 versus $300. I’m not sure what happened, unless my employer accidentally withheld way too much from a few thousand dollars of retroactive pay I was given.
Refund? heh - we’ll be paying almost $1300. But it won’t matter next year, because we make too much to get the “rebate.” The last time they did this, we ended up having to pay almost exactly the amoung of the “rebate.”
On April 14th, I’ll be sending the Feds a check for $956. On May 15th, they’ll be sending us a check for $900.
I’m contemplating filing for an extension, then endorsing the advance check back to the IRS and stuffing it in an envelope with three twenties and a note that saying “Keep the change.”
The “tax rebate” won’t have any effect on your taxes owed or overpaid in 2007. What might have an effect are changes to AMT, increases in various income cutoffs, and changes in existing credits and deductions all of which were decided before the economic stimulus plan was hatched.
The money you’ll receive later this year (assuming you meet the income requirements) is a pre-payment of a one time only tax credit for 2008. So, yes, it is free money and you won’t have to pay it back even if your actual 2008 income make you ineligible for the credit - neat!
black rabbit, I think you’ll have to file your 2007 taxes before you can get the tax credit advance since they are basing eligibility off your 2007 return.
I was so confused about the various reports of this thing that I went and read the text of the bill itself. Somehow I came out less confused although I wouldn’t want to read that stuff for a living.
It looks to me like the upcoming “rebate” is actually a credit against next year’s taxes. As in, it’ll reduce our refund next year. I could be wrong though.
We are getting less of a refund this year than last, then again our income has increased a fair bit and our withholding didn’t go up that much so this makes sense.
Dudes. Don’t compare your refund. Compare your taxes paid. Maybe your WH was less, so you kept more per check, thus a smaller refund.
This is not Tax Advice. But, if you owe and have problems paying, then the IRS will take your Rebate (or parts there-of) for what you owe. You must file timely and there could be a small amount of interest. YMMV, ask your tax expert. You must file in order to get the rebate.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but our WH was a little more this year than last – like I said in my post “all other things the same” meaning within $20 of last year’s filing, we are getting about $1K less. Meh. We’re getting back what we paid in, but are getting less in terms of credits, and I don’t see why. Oh well, the “rebate” will make up for it and we are going to be horrible citizens and put the “rebate” in savings anyway.