How to make sure you get your rebate check fast
— -- If receiving a tax refund from the IRS normally puts a spring in your step, you'll get an extra bounce this year.
Under the economic-stimulus package approved by Congress last week, more than 130 million Americans will receive checks for at least $300 in late spring or by summer. The rebate is a credit against your 2008 tax bill, but it will be based on your 2007 tax return.
Most single taxpayers will receive checks for $600, while married couples will receive $1,200. If you have dependent children younger than 17, you're eligible for an additional rebate of $300 per child.
But even if you don't earn enough money to owe income tax, you could be eligible for a rebate. If you received at least $3,000 in 2007 from Social Security, veteran benefits, earned income or any combination of the three, you're eligible for a rebate of at least $300. If you meet that income threshold and have dependents, you're eligible for an additional $300 per child (see box).
The IRS is expected to use information from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs to track down people who are eligible for the rebate. But identifying people who qualify for a rebate solely based on earned income will be much harder, says Mark Luscombe, federal tax analyst for CCH, a publisher of tax information and software.
If you fall into that category, Luscombe recommends filing an income tax return this year, even if you don't make enough money to owe federal income tax. That will make it easier for the IRS to find you, he says.
The check isn't in the mail
While more than 130 million Americans are expected to receive rebate checks, some people will come up empty-handed, while others will see their rebates reduced. Those individuals include:
•Single taxpayers with adjusted gross income of more than $75,000 and couples with AGI of more than $150,000. The phase-out will be 5% of the amount of your income that exceeds the threshold. Singles with AGI of more than $87,000 and couples with AGI of more than $174,000 won't receive any rebate.
•College students. Under the law, anyone who was claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2007 tax return is ineligible for the rebate. That means that college students whose parents claimed them as dependents in 2007 are not eligible, even if they earned at least $3,000 in 2007, says Mel Schwarz, partner with Grant Thornton's national tax office.
Their parents can't claim a $300 rebate for them, either; the rebate is limited to dependents under age 17.
"If you're a freshman in college, and you're a dependent on Dad's return, he doesn't get an extra $300 for you, and you can't claim yourself," Schwarz says. "You fell out of the rebate system."
•People who owe money to the IRS. If you owe back taxes, the IRS will withhold all or part of your rebate check to pay your debts, according to the Treasury Department.
Accelerating your rebate
The rebates are designed to stimulate the economy by encouraging people to spend the money. So the Bush administration wants to get the rebates in taxpayers' hands as quickly as possible.
The IRS, though, must get through the 2007 tax season before it can start sending out rebate checks. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said last week that he expects the IRS to start issuing checks in May.
Treasury is considering using direct deposit to speed things along but is still working out the details, Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza said in an e-mail.
If you're eager to get your check, make sure to file your federal income tax return by April 15. Because the rebate will be based on your 2007 tax return, filing for an extension will delay your rebate, Schwarz says.
Taxpayers who receive an extension until Oct. 15 might not receive their rebate until the end of the year. "I would file a return as soon as possible in order to put your numbers in front of the IRS," Schwarz says.
The rebate won't be treated as taxable income on your 2008 tax return. And taxpayers who don't qualify for a rebate based on their 2007 income will get a second chance when they file their 2008 returns next year, says Bob Scharin, senior tax analyst for RIA's Thomson Tax & Accounting.
Though the rebate will be based on your 2007 income, keep in mind that it's actually a credit against your 2008 taxes.
So if your situation changes and you qualify for a rebate based on your 2008 income — or become eligible for a larger rebate — you can claim the difference on your 2008 tax return.
On the other hand, Scharin says, if you receive a larger rebate based on your 2007 returns than you would have received in 2008, the IRS won't make you give the money back.
Sandra Block covers personal finance for USA TODAY. Her Your Money column appears Tuesdays. Click herefor an index of Your Money columns. E-mail her at: sblock@usatoday.com.