Don't Rush To Spend That Rebate Check

MarketWatch's Marshall Loeb Gives 6 Reasons To Get Your IRS Refund, Then Spend It

(MarketWatch)  Most Americans will soon receive rebate checks from the IRS worth anywhere between $300 to $1,200 or more, and many businesses have already launched marketing campaigns hoping to lure those potential customers.

Yet, many folks will not be eligible for a check at all and could end up in a bind if they've already hit the mall and put extra charges on their credit cards, counting on the rebate cash.

The global tax firm of Grant Thornton says if you belong to any of the following six categories of taxpayers, you should think twice before charging a purchase with plans to pay it off with that "free" government money. You may not be eligible for a rebate -- or at least not for a full or timely one -- if:

You owe the tax man money.
The IRS has acknowledged that it will deduct from all rebate checks any federal tax debt. The agency will also withhold on behalf of all 50 states, and even Puerto Rico and American Samoa, any money owed in state or territory taxes. If you owe back taxes to the IRS or any state government, you could see your rebate reduced or gone altogether.

You make too much money.
The rebate payments will begin to phase out for individuals with gross incomes above $75,000, and for married couples filing jointly with incomes over $150,000. If your adjusted gross income is above those levels, calculate your rebate carefully before going on a spending spree. Payments to high-income taxpayers will be reduced by 5% of all income above the phase-out thresholds.

You don't make enough money.
If you have less than $3,000 in qualifying income, don't expect a rebate. Only those with $3,000 or more of income will be eligible. However, you will be able to count income typically exempt from taxation, like Social Security or veteran's benefits, to reach that minimum.

You don't file a tax return.
If you don't file a tax return, you won't receive a rebate. Many people with low incomes are not required to file a return, but will need to in order to receive a rebate. If you have over $3,000 in qualifying income, file a return even if you don't have to.

You're just unlucky.
The IRS's recently released rebate payment schedule is based on the last two digits of return filer's Social Security number. However, the IRS warns that a small percentage of tax returns will require additional time to process. For these returns, stimulus payments will not be made according to schedule. Taxpayers who put purchases on their credit cards in anticipation of a quick rebate check may be forced to pay unexpected interest if their return processing is held up.

You don't have a valid Social Security Number.
Some taxpayers without Social Security numbers file tax returns using an IRS-generated Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. These people will not be eligible for a rebate. If married and filing jointly, each spouse must have a valid SSN to receive the rebate.

[forthepeopl1]

Fielding questions after his speech, Paulson said that "innovation always precedes regulation in our economy" and suggested that oversight needed to catch up. OK PAULSON MY INNVATION IS TO BURN DOWN MY HOUSE,INSTEAD OF GIVEN IT TO THE SCUM BAGS THAT LIED ABOUT THE VALUE..

Once again Paulson defended the government''''''''s role in coming to the aid of Bear Stearns - which has been criticized by some Democrats and others as akin to a federal bailout.

AND 100 MILLION AMERICANS ARE FACEING BANKRUPY, SO WERE IS MY BAILOUT..AND WE DIDN''''''''T LIE ABOUT THE VALUE OF OUR HOMES..THEY DID,


"Bear Stearns found itself facing bankruptcy,"
Paulson said. "The Federal Reserve acted promptly to resolve the Bear Stearns situation and avoid a disorderly wind-down. It is the job of regulators to come together to address times such as this; and we did so. Our focus was the stability and orderliness of our financial markets."

Paulson said the administration will explore ways to help struggling homeowners at risk of losing their homes. But he was cool to some of the proposals put forth by Democrats on Capitol Hill, saying that "most are not yet ready for the starting gate."

In addition, he rejected the need for a "systemwide solution" to deal with homeowners who have no equity in their home. That''''''''s when one''''''''s mortgage eclipses the value of their home.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke recently urged lenders loans.SAYING 30 OR 40 OR EVEN 50 PERCENT REFI IS BETTER THAN A BURN DOWN HOME..

[hungry1968]

Do yourself a favor - pay off your debt.

It''s not what the Bush regime wants because it doesn''t serve HIS purpose, but it is absolutely in your own best interest to cut your debt.

Running out and frivolously wasting the money isn''t going to help the economy, despite what the ignorant Bush regime says.

Hey George - since all of your wealthy buddies aren''t trickling any money down to those of us in the middle class, maybe you could get them to go out and spend some of their money. Wouldn''t that help to boost the economy?

[johnstossel]

When I get my check I plan on depositing it in the bank. When all of the banks fail later this year the FDIC will have to pay me an extra $600. Tell me again how this will help the economy, I must have missed it the first time!!!

[advanceus]

johnstossel, if all the banks fail how are you going to get your $600? FDIC probably won''t have any either. When you get your check go to the bank, cash it and get $10 and $20 bills, bury it in your backyard, if the banks fail you will still have your $600.

[prairiefox1]

BANKRUPT! GET OUT FROM UNDER THE GREEDY CROOKS AND NEVER TRUST ANY ONE AGAIN! AFTER THAT YOU WILL AS MR. SPOCK WOULD SAY IT! LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!

[prairiefox1]

I DREAMED THAT FDIC WENT THE WAY AS FSLIC!

[bobnjersey]

[Yet, many folks will not be eligible for a check at all and could end up in a bind if they''ve already hit the mall and put extra charges on their credit cards, counting on the rebate cash.]

you mean the idiots?

[nolle61]

Study up on the FAIR TAX plan. I''ve read a couple of books on the subject and it is truly the best way to save our economy.

Imagine getting your entire paycheck each week! Don''t let the libs fool you with their false rhetoric that it''ll "hurt the poor" or "the sales tax will kill you". Those claims are absolutely geared to keep money going into their pockets instead of yours.("mispoken" words to use a Clinton phrase).

The truth is that the FAIR TAX plan will be advantageous to the poor in America by way of a "pre-bate" that we''ll all receive each month for necessities like groceries. And, the sales tax will be already in the price of the items we purchase. Without having the income tax (among many other taxes) on the front end, you won''t see very much of an increase in the price, if at all.

Check it out for yourself before you pass judgement and follow what you hear from the leftist media.

FAIR TAX !!!!! Demand it today!!

[nolle61]

Don''t spend money you don''t have or can''t pay off each month!!

Are you planning for retirement? Do you have a retirement account or are you planning to live on Social Security for the rest of your life? If that''s your plan, good luck!!

Start an IRA with your rebate check. Now that''s smart thinking!

Don''t expect the government or anyone else to pay your way through life when you don''t want to work anymore... After you have of course put in your time like the rest of us...

You''re on your own and this rebate can get you started down a good path for future financial security...

SMILE, We''re getting a (somewhat fiscal conservative)Republican for President!!

No New Taxes!!! Keep The Bush Tax Cuts!!!

The economy will come back again, don''t worry!!

[nolle61]

FAIR TAX !! Demand It Today!!

[bobnjersey]

[Don''''t let the libs fool you with their false rhetoric that it''''ll "hurt the poor" or "the sales tax will kill you". Those claims are absolutely geared to keep money going into their pockets instead of yours.("mispoken" words to use a Clinton phrase).]
[Posted by nolle61 at 04:27 PM : Mar 27, 2008]

interesting ... can you explain how this occurs? how does money paid w/ the current system make it''s way into liberals hands? was it doing that from 2000 thru then end of 2006 as not a single spending bill was vetoed?

i just don''t want to be fooled by ''the libs''.

[mcv57]

Posted by nolle61

You sound like the typical uneducated populous - or you are a republican croony.

The world economy has to collapse - the longer it takes the harder it will fall (can''t make gold from dirt). I would suggest you folks read the book: "The Golden New Age", by Ravi Batra, PhD Economics. The 80s calamity was avoid by foreign funds, just as the Bushwacker is attempting to do now. The rich does not hates sharing its wealth.

[bobnjersey]

[SMILE, We''''re getting a (somewhat fiscal conservative)Republican for President!!]
[Posted by nolle61 at 04:35 PM : Mar 27, 2008]

so ... you''ve never heard the phrase "a week is a lifetime in politics"?

[mcv57]

The rich does not like sharing its wealth with the world. They just want more, more, more, until you die.

[terribayless-2009]

www.daveramsey.com be weird be debt free!!

[notopennshut]

It''s not just about the rebate check! People should just not go out and spend, whether they have, or don''t have. Many of those who did that are now in dire circumstances and begging for help. This rebate check is what the government claims is the "help" for its citizens. Baloney! We got into the subprime mess because people went out and spent what they did not have, with the help of all those companies. Yes, if you did not have sufficient down payment, take the loan offered and now you can''t afford it. So why should the government and the rest of us who have been responsible have to sacrifice and help bail them out with our prudence and hard-earned money?? It is not fair to those who have been responsible. Okay, we bail them out, but for how long? If they are unable to get out of this themselves, we, as a nation should not be propping them and bailing them out for the rest of our lives. We have to live too. And bailing them out do not teach them fiscal responsibility. They would expect more of the same. So I say, if they have to go through the process, so be it. Perhaps this will be the lesseon learned-NOT TO GO OUT AND SPEND WHAT YOU DO NOT HAVE.

[element51]

terribayless..It''s great that you brought up Dave Ramsey. I started listening to him about 4 years ago and it just blew me away. All of a sudden it was like I woke up in a new world. He made me understand how foolish I had been so I started to follow his advice. It was hard but we finally became debt free. No credit cards, no mortgage, no car payments, no installment payments. Yes, we had to lower our standard of living a little but it wasn''t that bad. Now instead of giving our money to the banks and credit card companies we put it into savings. I can not describe how good it feels to be free. My strong advice to any of you is listen to Dave. Even if you can only follow part of his plan it will change your life. He changed my life and I will always be grateful to him.

[element51]

Sorry, I had a computer malfunction.

[trillion1]

Only someone as stupid as bush , who tells everyone to shop, will go out and spend this money on things. Pay bills or save it. You''ll be in better shape the next time bush tells us how strong the economy is.

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earning over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for those earning more then 50mil. per year, including making current all deferred income.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[stevemd2]

Where is the money coming from - our children who will discover how much more deeply in debt they are thanks to Bush and his repub lockstepers

The money should come from a 50% income tax bracket for those earns over 5 million/year, and a 75% bracket for earnings over 25mil. per year, including making current all deferred income deals.

All Bush has done is given big business who bankrolls much of the repub party the go ahead to steal the average person''s home, ship their job off to near slave labor countries, and send our sons off to a war based on lies, while letting Bin Laden go free in Afghanistan. The only people who will support the repubs this year are the super-rich and those who aspire to be that rich. What do you think your chances are of super-wealth? Is your God the same as Bush''s and the repubs'' real God - the God of Greed?

[SJames6621]

The history of the world has been the struggle between the ordinary person and the superwealthy. America was in some ways unique in that it had not only the very rich and the poor, but a flourishing middle class. We don''t have kings, and we didn''t have big business creating the laws that enhance their power at the expense of the average citizen who is not one of the very very wealthy.

Thanks to the policies of the republicans under Bush, big business has run rampant. Jobs disappear, health care is unaffordable or unavailable for tens of millions, and now the crooked - that is exactly what they are - crooked mortgage deals are costing people their homes as well.

The legacy of the Republican Bush administration could be the loss of opportunity to become, or to remain in the middle class. The income gap between the very wealthy and the average American is growing. Only a near clean sweep of Bush''s gang of far right wing republicans, who are anything but conservative on the economy, will give us back what America is supposed to be about for the great majority of our citizens.

[stevemd2]

I apologize for the 6 or so duplicate posts. I kept getting a message saying the post button was temporarily turned off, but in actuality it was posting the message

SteveMD2