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IRS Stimulus Payment Rebate Calculator
April 29, 2008 |
I’ve told a lot of readers with questions about the economic stimulus payment to use the IRS Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator. Specifically the payment calculator should tell you if you qualify for the stimulus payment and the amount of the stimulus payment you will receive. I decided I should try the calculator myself and see if I qualify and how much I will get.
Using the Stimulus Payment Calculator
The IRS Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator is supposed to estimate the amount you receive. You need a copy of your filed tax return to use the calculator.
Qualification Information
The first step is to make sure you qualify.
Can you, or your spouse if filing a joint return, be claimed as a dependent on another person’s return? Yes or No
Are you, or your spouse if filing a joint return, a nonresident alien? Yes or No
Does your tax return include a valid social security number for you and your spouse, if filing a joint return? Yes or No
I’ve indicated the qualifying answers in bold. If your answers are different you may not qualify for the payment.
Federal Income Tax Return Selection
NOTE:
The advance payment will be based on your 2007 return. If you do not file a federal tax return for 2007, you will not receive the advance payment in 2008. However, if eligible, you would still be able to claim the credit on your tax return for 2008, which you would file in early 2009.Which type of federal income tax return did you file for Tax Year 2007?
Form 1040
Form 1040A
Form 1040EZ
The type of return (1040, 1040A, 1040EZ) is printed in bold at the top of your tax forms. You can’t miss it.
In my case I used H&R Blocks Tax Cut web site. I have a PDF document with all the information listed. I had to file form 1040.
You Need a Copy of Your Federal Income Tax Return
If you prepared your own taxes you should have a copy of your tax return. If someone else filed them you should have received a copy of your tax return from them. If you filed your taxes using software or a web site (such as TaxCut) you should be able to get a copy of your tax return from the software or web site.
Form Specific Information
Note that after you select your tax form the stimulus calculator will take you to a page that asks for specific information from your tax form. It will match up with your tax form line for line. Just make sure you choose the right form.
When filing out the form I put a 0 (zero) in the items that were blank on my form. That helped my keep track of where I was at on the calculator page. I found that the calculator can be somewhat confusing. That’s to be expected because it’s based on the ultra confusing tax forms that the IRS publishes.
Make sure you enter only whole numbers (no commas and you can drop the cents) or the calculator will puke. I’m copying and pasting the numbers from my online form and the commas are confusing the calculator. That’s a bad design on the behalf of the IRS but they aren’t exactly know for their user friendliness are they?
Your Payment Amount
After you’ve entered the information from your tax return the stimulus payment calculator should tell you how much you should expect. In my case, I can expect the full payment for me, my wife and my child. That comes to $1500.
If you have problems with the calculator here are a couple tips:
- Slow down
- Take your time
- Read all the instructions
- Be patient
The IRS economic stimulus payment calculator is a good tool, if you can figure it out. It could be improved somewhat but I think overall I’d give it a good rating, considering it’s coming from the IRS and all.
Once again here is the link to the IRS economic stimulus payment calculator. Let me know if you have any problems or if your actual payment was different from what the calculator indicated.
Categories Government Taxes
Tags Economic Stimulus IRS Stimulus Payment TaxesRelated Posts
- IRS Economic Stimulus Payment Article Index
- Is the Economic Stimulus Payment Taxable Income?
- IRS Stimulus Payment: How Much Will You Get?
- IRS Where’s My Stimulus Payment Web Page
- How the Amount of the Stimulus Payment Is Determined
Comments
21 Comments so far
Great info. I blogged about this issue on our company blog at savvywallet.com a few days ago. One thing to be careful are the retailers that are offering 10% bonuses in gift cards in exchange for our stimulus. Consider this: $100B was spent on gift cards last year, and $8B was lost/unredeemed. My advice? Save it, put it towards debt, and our IRAs.
I dont understand my husband and I made only 37,000 last year and we have 3 childern al under 6 and it is saying we will get back 1853! why is this wouldnt we get 1200 + 300 for each child? which would be 2100?
Stacy, I agree and have the same question.I have 3 kids & filed mrried jointly. We made 36,ooo last year and it’s telling me we are going to receive 1773! Why aren’t we receiving 2100? The way I understood it,it wasn’t being taxed, etc??
i was suppose to receive my rebate on may 2nd through direct deposit, however i see nothing. What happened?
I too was supposed to receive my rebate through direct deposit and have not received it. I checked at IRS.gov and submitted the correct information in “Where’s my stimus payment” and it doesn’t recognize me. Do you know if there was a delay?
I think married couples should get more back as we pay more taxes than people with children. They always get a larger share and pay less taxes. It should not matter if you have kids or not or how many.
Yup thats the same thing that happened to me jill, i went to IRS.gov, entered my SSN and it could not help me…..i’m not sure whats going on
Many people who got their deposits this week have posted elsewhere that the amount differed from the amount the calculator told them they would get…..anyone got information on why this would be happening with such frequency?
The payment is based on your tax liability. If you paid more in taxes you get more back for your stimulus payment. If your tax liability was less than $600 meaning you paid less in taxes then you will prolly be getting $300 individual amount instead of the $600 and $300 per kid.
I WAS SUPOSE TO RECEIVE A DIRECT DEPOSIT OF MY REBATE CHECK BY THE 2ND OF MAY. AND I HAVENT RECEIVED ANYTHING YET. I NEED MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE CHECKS AND WHAT SHOULD I DO?
I WAS SUPOSE TO RECEIVE MY REBATE ON THE 2ND OF MAY I HAVE RECEIVED ANYTHING YET. I NEED MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THE STAUS OF MY REBATE. I WOULD LIKE FOR SOMEBODY TO CONTACT ME THROUGH EMAIL AND GIVE ME SOME KIND OF INFORMATION OF WHAT’S GOING ON.
Am’I geting a stimuluspayment this year.or i need to fill out ather form. thank
Dorothy
go to the irs site and click on where’s my refund. There is a link on there to check Where’s my Stimulus Check? You can enter your info, IF your date has come.
I was suppose to receive our check ( direct deposit) on the 9th of May and still nothing. I went online to the IRS site and it doesn’t recognize my ssn.
If you filed with Turbo Tax or HR Block and had the fees taken out of your refund you will not get your check direct deposited. They will send you a paper check in the mail
I filed a 2007 tax return and claimed 0. However, I was still 17 in 2007 and turned 18 in January of 08. Will i still receive a stimulus check even though my mom claimed me as a dependent?
Desirae,
If your mom claimed you, you are not eligible.
Sorry.
MY TWINS WERE 18 JAN 3 2008 .I FILED HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD AND THEY ARE MY DEPENDENTS WILL I GET A REBATE FOR THEM .
Debbie,
No your twins won’t count. Because you could not claim them on your 2007 taxes, the IRS has no way of knowing that they exist, yet.
I DID CLAIM THEM,THEY ARE 18 YEARS OLD
I used the IRS calculator and it indicates that I will receive no payment. I saw nowhere on the calculator that it took off my dividends and interest which is not supposed to be counted a qualifying income.