Viewpoints
Your Stimulus Check
By Jessica Peavey
July 09, 2008
Wednesday
While I fully agree that the system is backwards, it's still
more money than we had before. I can't complain about that. It
is unfortunate that the people who need this most, (low income/no
income) will either never receive this money, or they will only
get a minimum of what was expected. It's all based on what you
do now(tax year 07), not what you have paid into the past. (unfortunately)
The IRS counts EARNED income- things that you do to bring income
into the home. In certain situations, they count UNearned income.(as
long as you have some sort of EARNED income to go along with
it) SSI, disability, social security, Veterans benifits, etc.
are counted as UNearned income.
Here are some reasons from
IRS.GOV as to why your stimulus payment is less than expected.
Many but not all taxpayers qualify for the maximum basic payment
of $600 for singles or $1,200 for married couples. Many parents
are also receiving an additional $300 for each qualifying child,
born after Dec. 31, 1990.
Your payment may be less than
the maximum for one or more of the following reasons:
You are single and your net
income tax liability is less than $600.
You are married and your net income tax liability is less than
$1,200.
You are single and your adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than
$75,000.
You are married filing a joint return and your AGI is more than
$150,000.
You owe back taxes that reduced your payment.
You have non-tax federal debts such as unpaid student loans or
child-support obligations that reduced your payment.
Some people with no tax liability
also will qualify. This includes Social Security and Railroad
Retirement beneficiaries, recipients of certain veterans payments,
low-income workers with earned income and/or benefits of at least
$3,000 and individuals who have combined income of at least $3,000
from any combination of these sources.
Jessica Peavey
Ketchikan, AK
Related Viewpoint:
 Stimulus
Check By Mary Hemli
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