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    Don't Mess With Taxes aims to keep him cranky by providing tax and personal finance tips and advice that will put more money in your bank account, not the government treasury.

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Tax Calendar

  • April 15 has come and gone, but millions now have until Oct. 15 to file their 2008 returns. And millions more have 2009 tax planning to do.
  • There are plenty of year-round tax dates to keep track of, as well as lots of tax-saving moves you can make between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.
    Find them here each month.


    monthly tax moves
  • July 1: You're halfway through the year. Now's the perfect time to make some midyear tax moves that could cut your 2009 IRS bill. If your life has changed significantly since the beginning of the year, adjust your withholding to more accurately reflect your new life, and tax, situation. Just give your employer a new W-4.

    July 4: Happy Independence Day! Celebrate your independence from future tax hassles. Hire a tax professional now to help get your tax life in shape while there's still plenty of time to plan.

    July 10: Does your job include tips? If so and you received $20 in tips in June, use Form 4070 to report them today to your employer.

    July 17: Are your kids at day camp while you work? You might be able to use that expense to claim the child and dependent care credit to cover some of the costs.

    July 21: It's been summer for month. How's your air conditioner holding up? If you need a new one, make sure it's energy efficient; that way on your 2009 tax return you can claim a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,500. Other energy-saving home improvements also qualify. Get the details at EnergyStar.gov.

    July 31: If you kids are older and working summer jobs, make sure they understand their tax responsibilities. You also can help your youngster get a nest egg head start by helping him or her open a Roth IRA with some of those summer earnings.

    Small Business Tax Calendar -- July: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates your company needs to know.

Carnival of Taxes

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Tax Terms

  • Earned income -- It's just like it sounds: Compensation you receive from work, including wages, salaries, commissions, tips and self-employment endeavors. Learn more...
  • Unearned income -- Money that is not gained by work or delivery of a service or product. It's most well-known source is from investments. Learn more...
  • Tax rates/brackets -- The U.S. tax system is a progressive one, in which the greater the earnings, the higher the tax rate. Learn more...
  • See these and other tax terms
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Cool tax quotes

  • The income tax has made
    more liars out of the American people than golf has.

    -- Will Rogers, humorist
  • I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is,
    I could be just as proud for half the money.
    -- Arthur Godfrey, comedian
  • Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. -- Author unknown, from a Washington Post word contest
  • "Internal Revenue Service: The world's most successful mail order business.” -- Bob Goddard, writer
  • "If you are truly serious about preparing your child for the future, don't teach him to subtract. Teach him to deduct." -- Fran Lebowitz, writer
  • "The United States has a system of taxation by confession." -- Hugo Black, Supreme Court Justice

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« Rebate pressure on preparers | Main | Valentine's Day: Love and taxes »

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Rebate plan is official

Dubya signed the economic stimulus bill today, so the rebate/advance credit checks are now the law. Get to work on your return so your check will be in the first batch mailed!

The IRS also announced (in FS-2008-15) how it's going to issue the checks. A couple of important notes:

  • Folks who don't usually file a return because their only income is Social Security, certain Railroad Retirement or certain veterans’ benefits, or they don't make enough earned income to file, must -- repeat, MUST -- file a 2007 return to get a rebate.
  • The rebates will be direct deposited for taxpayers selecting that option when filing their 2007 tax returns. 

Treasury rebate examples: Also in conjunction with the signing, the Treasury Department issued this fact sheet with examples of rebate amounts for various taxpayer scenarios.

One note on the fact sheet. The first example, Married with children, has an asterisk but no corresponding explanation. I suspect this is a cut-and-paste error from an earlier version.

Al_bundy As I recall, the first iteration of the fact sheet had a footnote indicating that the amount per child is for kids younger than 17. I suspect that asterisk-marked elaboration was dropped inadvertently on this version.

But I must admit that when I saw that heading, I was halfway expecting the footnote to somehow reference Al and Peggy Bundy.

Yeah, I know. Too much TV.

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Comments

Im single and thought all were getting 600.00 but it has broken down to how much you make, not if you file and get return and also support a disabled sister and she didnt get anything also So how does this rebate work and who gets what

Ok, i'm really confused I was told that if I made less than 3,000 then I wouldn't get a rebate check, so i filed jointy with my husband and their taking it all because he owes back child support. Are you saying that if I filed separate then I would have gotten one, instead of nothing? That is crap. So much for getting help from the government when you can't understand a thing the say.

Is the SSI of Texas going to steal our tax money. They been taking our income taxes for years. They said I owned $10000, even when we was homeless, living at government parks out of 1978 18 ft van with temps that was freezing, they took my husband's 1st check, then went back 5 years. I've talked to SSI every year, they just take of a couple of $1000s Last I heard was down to $2000. They took this year's income tax against the money they say I owe.

I only made $1700.00 in self employed income but I did file a return in Feb. Will I have to wait untill June to get the refund or will I get one? H&R block did not put my bank infomation on my return. Thank you

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