In typical IRS fashion, there was much confusion last year regarding the 2008 Stimulus Rebate Check. As many of us are knee deep in receipts and W-2 forms, the confusion is back and causing many headaches these days.
There many rumors out there surrounding the economic stimulus payments mailed out last year. Some are saying that stimulus check must be paid back. Others say the amount received is taxable. Still others say the amount will actually lower your income tax refund for 2008 tax year.
In a nutshell, the above rumors are all false. The stimulus rebate payment is not taxable federally, it doesn’t have to be paid back to Uncle Sam, and it does not lower your income tax refund.
While completing your tax returns, the IRS will ask you if you received a Stimulus Rebate Check last year, whether you are doing these manually on tax forms or using a tax preparation software program like TurboTax.
You ask, why do you have to enter whether or not you received a check? The IRS claims that the line is included so that people who did not receive the full amount last year, can actually claim it now.
Bottom line is you don’t have to pay taxes on your check. Any question regarding the 2008 Stimulus Rebate Check, please got to the IRS site.
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Steven R. 02.13.09 at 8:48 am
Thanks for clearing a lot of the issues I had as well. There are too many confusing opinions out there about how to handle the rebate checks.
IRS should have done a much better job communicating the facts.