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Answers to More Tax Rebate Questions
Wondering whether you'll get extra money when you file your tax return if you didn't get the full rebate amount last year? Find out.
By Kimberly Lankford, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
February 9, 2009
We keep getting more tax-rebate questions! I answered several in my Second Chance at a Rebate and Will You Qualify for Extra Rebate Money? columns. But other people still want to know whether they can get extra money when they file their 2008 tax return if they didn't receive the full rebate amount last year. Here are some answers to their questions.
I'm a widow living primarily on Social Security, and I received a $600 rebate last year. Will I get more rebate money when I file my 2008 tax return?
No. If you received the maximum rebate last year ($600 if single, $1,200 if married filing jointly, plus $300 for eligible children), then you will not receive more rebate money when you file your tax return this year. This is a separate issue from any money that could be distributed as part of a new stimulus bill that Congress is debating now.
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Will You Qualify for Extra Rebate Money? | ||
I had a child in 2008. Will I automatically qualify for an extra $300?
You won't automatically get the extra money; it depends on your income. Even though families could have received up to $300 for each eligible child based on their 2007 tax return, with an extra $300 for children born in 2008, you are still subject to the income limits to qualify for the rebate.
The amount of the rebate you can receive starts to phase out as your income tops $75,000 for single people, or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. The rebate is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 you earn above those limits.
To calculate the phase-out amount, start with the maximum rebate your family could qualify for -- say, $1,800 if married with two children. Then subtract $50 for every $1,000 you earned above the $150,000 income limit. So if your adjusted gross income was $200,000 in both 2007 and 2008, for example, you wouldn't receive any money for the new child., In that case, you'd multiply the amount you earned over the $150,000 limit ($50,000) by 5%, which equals $2,500. Then you’d subtract $2,500 from $1,800 and come up with a rebate of less than zero.
To figure out how much of a rebate you should have received (not subtracting last year’s check or any changes for 2008), see the Kiplinger Tax Rebate Calculator.
I had money deducted from last year's rebate check for back taxes. In the 2008 Form 1040 instructions, the Rebate Recovery Credit Worksheet asks for the amount of the stimulus payment I received (before any offset). Do I include the total amount of the rebate I was awarded or the amount I actually received after back taxes were subtracted?
You need to include the total amount of stimulus money for which you were eligible, before any money was subtracted for back taxes, unpaid child support, unpaid student loans or other offsets the IRS made.
If, for example, you were eligible for a $1,200 rebate but $500 was subtracted for back taxes, you would report the full $1,200 you qualified for, not the $700 you actually received.
I received an e-mail, supposedly from the IRS, saying that I qualified for more rebate money but that I needed to send my Social Security number and other personal information to get it. Is this a scam?
Yes. The IRS does not call or e-mail taxpayers about their stimulus payments. But plenty of scam artists have sent out e-mails that look quite official, in an effort to gather information that can help them steal people's identities.
I earned too little to qualify for the full rebate check last year, but I earned more in 2008. Will I get more money?
You might. You needed to earn at least $3,000 in 2007 to qualify for the full rebate check. If you crossed that threshold in 2008, then you could qualify for more money when you file your 2008 return.
I was single in 2007 and earned too much to qualify for the rebate. But I got married in 2008, and my wife earns less than I do. Will we qualify for rebate money when we file our tax returns this year?
You may end up getting more money, depending on your joint income and the amount of rebate money each of you received last year. Go to the IRS guide Claiming the Recovery Rebate Credit If Your Filing Status Has Changed, which includes instructions for people who got married in 2008 as well as those who divorced and will not file jointly on their 2008 returns.
For more information about calculating your Rebate Recovery Credit – which is any extra rebate money you could receive when you file your tax return this year – see the IRS’s Questions and Answers About the Recovery Rebate Credit and the Recovery Rebate Credit Information Center.
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