by Theresa Michael

Created on: February 08, 2009   Last Updated: February 10, 2009

In early 2008 the Bush administration and Congress enacted and passed the Economic Stimulus Package which gave taxpayers who had income of at least $3000 a refundable credit on their tax return. To get this money into the hands of tax payers to keep our economy from total collapse, the package allowed for this credit to be given in advance based on filed tax returns for 2007. There was a stipulation to this that everyone on the return must have a valid social security number, which excluded a large portion of the US Military that had spouses who were not yet naturalized. Congress has since made changes to this program but right now a misunderstanding about this credit is the number one reason for tax returns to be rejected.

The 2008 Economic Stimulus payment was an advance on a tax credit being enacted for 2008. When you file your taxes this year, your tax preparer or tax program you use will ask you how much you received for the Economic Stimulus payment. If you do not have the notice you received prior to getting that payment and you do not remember exactly how much you received you can go to IRS.gov and they have a link, similar to the "Where's my Refund?" link that asks you for your Social, your 2007 filing status and the number of exemptions on your 2007 return. It was buried pretty far in the IRS website but with it required to be reported on your 2008 tax return they have placed the link on the main page with the links for other frequently used online services. When you click this link it will take you to another page where you will need to go to the bottom of the page and click the link "how much was my 2008 economic stimulus payment?". You will be taken to a new page where it will then ask you for the information from your 2007 tax return to find out how much your payment was. If you did not receive one then it will tell you that no information was located. This information is vital since this payment was an advance.

If you did not qualify to receive a payment because your spouse had an ITIN and you were active duty military you can still take this credit. Late in 2008, after the IRS was done sending out the rebate checks, Congress changed the Stimulus package to allow active duty military to still be able to take this credit, even though their spouse has an ITIN. Your tax preparer or tax program should ask you if you were active duty military in 2008. This will allow you to get the full credit for your spouse.

If your income changed in 2008 from what

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>