If the new rebate goes through, what will you do with yours?

[PaKettle]

Personally, I think it's a terrible idea. It's a bandaid that won't do much toward a long term cure for the state of the economy, but it is an election year.

But, even if I think it's a bad idea, if uncle sam sends me a check I will deposit it just the same. What's your plan? Spend, Save or a little of both?

We will be banking ours. Every bit of savings I can get at this point is great. It's going to take me 2 years to get to my emergency fund goal, so anything that makes that go faster is ok by me

Well, definitely at least some of it will go into savings. How much depends on :

How much my wife and I are working by then (if she gets a new job, and if my # of hours gets better or worse) ; and:

How much we get back from taxes.

I adjusted my taxes the past 2 months so they'd take out less which means our refund will be much less than usual. If we get back $1000 in tax refunds (aside from the $1200 we should get as a rebate from what I've read) that will go into our emergency fund, and then the rebate will go for a little mini-vacation drive and hotel trip for 5-6 days in early summer. Even then we should have money left over to go into the emergency fund.

[BankruptPinoy]

According to MSN Money, it's not really free money. I don't want it, because I don't want to have to pay it back next year.

From the MSN Money report, "Remember, this is your money you're getting back, and the rebate checks are basically an advance on your 2009 refund. When similar rebates were sent out in 2001, said tax expert Mark Luscombe, "a lot of people were upset to see their (next) refund reduced."

So, if that's true, I am thinking of just keeping the cash in an envelope for 2009. But if we do spend it, we need some good made in America shoes like the SAS shoes made in Texas.

Edit:

LOL-sorry vleisme, as I didn't see your post. Yes vleisme, I read the MSN article today, and again, sorry I didn't see your post from the 9th.

Yeah Pa Kettle, kinda seems like a scam, don't it? Pa, did you see the news about CNN supposedly deleting reports about this? "This raises two interesting questions: Is this sentence true, and CNN just doesn't want readers to know about it, or; did the author get it wrong, and CNN did a fast delete rather than an update with a retraction?"- Noel Sheppard of News Busters.

I've got enough to worry about without the government and CNN possibly trying to scam me.

[Cali]

I would prefer they keep the money. The less I have to pay back the better.

[PaKettle]

According to MSN Money, it's not really free money. I don't want it, because I don't want to have to pay it back next year.

From the MSN Money report, "Remember, this is your money you're getting back, and the rebate checks are basically an advance on your 2009 refund. When similar rebates were sent out in 2001, said tax expert Mark Luscombe, "a lot of people were upset to see their (next) refund reduced."

So.. this is not a rebate but a LOAN???!? Why don't they call it just that - a "loan against your 2009 tax refund"? But again, I ask, what if you get no refund in 2009? Does that mean you will end up OWING?

So, if that's true, I am thinking of just keeping the cash in an envelope for 2009. But if we do spend it, we need some good made in America shoes like the SAS shoes made in Texas.

Edit:

LOL-sorry vleisme, as I didn't see your post. Yes vleisme, I read the MSN article today, and again, sorry I didn't see your post from the 9th.

Yeah Pa Kettle, kinda seems like a scam, don't it? Pa, did you see the news about CNN supposedly deleting reports about this? "This raises two interesting questions: Is this sentence true, and CNN just doesn't want readers to know about it, or; did the author get it wrong, and CNN did a fast delete rather than an update with a retraction?"- Noel Sheppard of News Busters.

I've got enough to worry about without the government and CNN possibly trying to scam me.

Just don't put the money in an envelope! Put it in a one year certificate of deposit or other completely safe investment vehicle so that you at last make a little interest off of it! Places like bankofinternet.com and orange bank(? I forget the name) etc. have good interest rates on cd's.

[JollyGG]

So.. this is not a rebate but a LOAN???!? Why don't they call it just that - a "loan against your 2009 tax refund"? But again, I ask, what if you get no refund in 2009? Does that mean you will end up OWING?

Just don't put the money in an envelope! Put it in a one year certificate of deposit or other completely safe investment vehicle so that you at last make a little interest off of it! Places like bankofinternet.com and orange bank(? I forget the name) etc. have good interest rates on cd's.

See where I explained this in this thread http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=21444

[epiphany]

See the form whatsthebest-mattress.com before buying. Read the reviews and the forum.
Hate to be a party pooper but most mattresses these days are crap. See the thread there about someone who took their mattress apart! and the links to photos of other mattresses that were dissected...

Thanks Pa! I will definitely peruse the site before buying. Mighty Kind of you,

EP

[Bandit]

According to MSN Money, it's not really free money. I don't want it, because I don't want to have to pay it back next year.

It is like a little scam. Isn't it though?

[schel]

I told my husband about that it is like a loan on next years taxes and we both are in agreement to put it in savings until next year with taxes.
Kind of not fair to those of us here. Here we are trying to get out of financial problems and Uncle Sam is there to test us.
Schel

[robivi3]

To quote Malcolm Reynolds Captain of the Firefly "Serenity". "Isn't that what Government's do, get in a man's way?".

[NASCAR20FAN]

I'm going to put mine right in my Roth IRA

[NASCAR20FAN]

I found this on CNN

About the 2008 IRS Tax Rebate Checks

From Robert Longley,
Your Guide to US Government Info.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Feb 11 2008

Who Gets What and When?
Congress has passed the $170 billion economic stimulus bill, highlighted by Tax Rebate Checks. Based on details released by the government so far, here's how the 2008 tax rebate will work.

When Will the Checks be Mailed?
The Treasury Department has stated that the IRS will begin mailing the rebate checks starting in early May. The Treasury estimates that it should take about 10 weeks for all the checks to be mailed.

Persons who fail to file their 2007 tax returns by April 15, 2008 and request a filing extension may not receive rebate checks until as late as December.

Who Will Get Tax Rebated Checks?
Tax rebate checks will be mailed to about 117 million middle- and low-income taxpayers. Thanks to amendments made to the bill in the Senate, some 20 million retirees living on Social Security and 250,000 U.S. veterans receiving disability benefits will also get checks.

Single tax filers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) less than $75,000 and couples filing jointly with AGIs less that $150,000 will qualify for full rebates.

Remember that your AGI is not your annual salary or income. Your AGI is your taxable income from all sources including wages, salaries, tips, interest, dividends, etc. minus IRS-allowed adjustments to income.

How Much Will You Get?
Qualifying single filers (AGI less than $75,000) will get rebates of up to $600. Qualifying couples (AGI less than $150,000) will get rebates of up to $1,200, plus $300 per dependent child, with no maximum on the number of eligible children.

Persons who owe no income taxes, but earned at least $3,000 in income from Social Security and veterans disability will get rebate checks of $300 for individuals and $600 for couples.

What if You Made More than the Maximum Income?
You will still get a check, but it will be reduced by 5-percent of the amount you earned above the AGI income caps of $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for couples.

For example: A single filer with no children and an adjusted gross income of $80,000, or $5,000 over the AGI cap, will see their rebate check reduced by $250 (5% of $5,000), and will get a check for $350, instead of $600.

At some income point above the AGI income caps, the rebate checks will phase out completely.

For example: A single filer with no kids and an adjusted gross income of $87,000, or $12,000 over the AGI cap, will not get a rebate check because it would be reduced by the full $600 (5% of $12,000).

What Do You Have to Do to Get a Check?
To get a rebate check, you must file a tax return; either a form 1040 or 1040-EZ federal tax return for tax year 2007.

Persons who do not normally not file tax returns, like retirees and disabled veterans, will have to file a 2007 tax return in order to get a rebate check.

About SSI the Tax Rebates
Based on the Economic Stimulus Bill as passed by Congress, persons with income from Supplemental Security Income (SSI) alone will not qualify for a tax rebate check.

The law authorizing the rebate checks (H.R. 5140) specifically limits qualifying income from Social Security benefits to "any amount received by the taxpayer by reason of entitlement to - (A) a monthly benefit under title II of the Social Security Act, or (B) a tier 1 railroad retirement benefit."

SSI is authorized under Title XVI of the Social Security Act, not Title II.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is funded by general tax revenues, not Social Security taxes. It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income by providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter.

For More Information Call the IRS
Since everybody's tax situation is different, and final qualification for the rebate checks will be decided by the IRS based on each individual's 2007 tax return, all specific questions regarding the rebate checks should be directed to the IRS. You can call the IRS at: Toll-Free, 1-800-829-1040 Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).

[One Half Full]

I was listening to NPR (I believe) and they said that last time these sorts of rebate checks were given only 22% actually spent them. The person being interviewed said the problem was with what they were called. If they had been called "bonuses" rather than "rebates" more people would have probably spent them. A rebate defines money you have overpaid. A bonus defines money that is free "fun money" like a pat on the back for a job well done. More people would blow bonus money than rebate money.

I also think it would have been brilliant for the government to run a lottery, where 1 in every 10 thousand tax returns is chosen and the winner recieves 1 million dollars. Or perhaps some other number (one in 1 thousand wins 10 thousand or something like that).

More people would have been excited about it, I'll bet.

Would it have been fair?

Come on, I'm single with no children, so I get 600 dollars. It's not going to buy much so all I can do is put it in savings for emergency money or something.

Oh, the person also said most people who spent the money used it for bills and groceries -- some sort of economic stimulus, to buy survival needs.

I also tend to think that we will have to itemize or pay back the amount in next years taxes as "income" which it is of course-- and yet it's kind of unfair.

[AMISLANDER]

If we owe the IRS, will they take this "rebate/advance loan on tax refund" and apply it to our tax debt?

[Penny Less]

I'm going to buy a bed! I have been sleeping on the same mattress and box spring for the last 25 years and they are old and there are dangerous springs poking through that I keep cutting myself on....ohhhhhhhh I am soooooooo going to buy a bed! I am not buying anything expensive. Just a cheap, safe, comfortable bed, and if there is anything left over, then some new comfy bedding.

I wish I could do that - I've been sleeping on an air mattress for over a year.

Mines going to attorney fees probably or medication.