Thompson & McCarty, P.C. CPA

The tax rebates for 2008 will happen and the IRS has stated that they will begin sending checks in early May. That is sooner than first projections of late May or early June so give the IRS credit on this.

Rebates will be keyed to tax liability. Married Couples will get a maximum rebate of $1200, single people will get get a maximum of $600. Filers with dependent children under the age of 17 will get an additional $300 per child. Married Couples with at least $3000 in income will get $600 and singles with at least $8750 will get $300. Dependents of another will not receive a check.

Social Security recipients and disabled veterans will be eligible for up to $600. Their benefits will be counted as earned income for stimulus rebate purposes. NOTE: This will mean that people who would not otherwise need to file will have to submit a return. If you know someone in this category please pass the word.

The IRS has issued this guidance for proper filing of tax forms for individuals that need to file only for rebate purposes only. Here is a link for that http://www.irs.gov/pub/newsroom/1040a.pdf. Click here for more guidance from the IRS about the stimulus rebate package in general.

High incomers will not get rebate checks. For marrieds the phase out starts at $150,000 of adjusted gross income and for singles $75,000. (There is another definition of high incomers. I doubt people in New York City think of themselves as high incomers at this level. This is more subtle class warfare propagated by the politicians that run our country. I digress) The phase out will be $50 for each $1000 over those amounts. There is a helpful calculator here http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/rebate/ but have your 2007 return with you or you probably will not be able to answer all the necessary question