My paycheck was Stimulated

[swanson719]

http://www.heritage.org/research/tax...ad/wm_2240.pdf in reference to "Making Work Pay"

However, I filed my taxes for 2008 in January and the $600 was deducted by the IRS from my return. Maybe I'm misunderstanding this, but logically, if they deduct it from your return, it's added as a liability, no?

[creditcardfree]

swanson719, I don't think you could have had the $600 deducted from your return. The making work pay bill wasn't passed until February.

The $600 was the rebate we received last year...$1200 if married. More if you had kids. If you didn't receive it last year it should have been ADDED to your tax refund this year when you filed. Unless, you received more rebate than you were entitled...then they might deducted it from your tax return.

This new "making work pay" is reducing the amount of tax that is withheld from paychecks. I'm not sure what you mean that it would be a liability.

[swanson719]

I got a large bonus last year, filed my taxes in January, took the $7,500 home-buyer credit, and had the $600 stimulus b/c I was single at the time. We filed a joint return. JS didn't get the stimulus last year because she didn't make enough. When I filed, I thought I had gotten $300, but it was $600. The IRS sent me a letter to that effect, and that the additional $300 would be deducted from my return, hence a liability. Therefore, last years stimulus served as a tax liability, which leads me to believe this years will be too in one form or another. No such thing as a free lunch. If it really is free money, so much the better, but I hate to take it if it means a bigger tax burden and more national debt, which it inevitably does.

[GrimJack]

And what are you planning to do with this additional money? The idea behind it was that you would spend that additional $10-$30 on eating out or going to the movies but will you even notice it with all the other expenses and bills?

Individually, we probably won't feel the difference because it will just go towards what we usually spend on things. But that $10-30 goes out into the economy and, in combination with everyone elses, may mean that someone keeps their job or someone stays in business or someone gets to keep their medical insurance, maybe even someone may get a job out of it.

I see it as kind of like picking up change; it has no impact on the day-to-day economics but at the end of the month/year - it is a 'chunk of change' into the bank/economy.

[noppenbd]

I got a large bonus last year, filed my taxes in January, took the $7,500 home-buyer credit, and had the $600 stimulus b/c I was single at the time. We filed a joint return. JS didn't get the stimulus last year because she didn't make enough. When I filed, I thought I had gotten $300, but it was $600. The IRS sent me a letter to that effect, and that the additional $300 would be deducted from my return, hence a liability. Therefore, last years stimulus served as a tax liability, which leads me to believe this years will be too in one form or another. No such thing as a free lunch. If it really is free money, so much the better, but I hate to take it if it means a bigger tax burden and more national debt, which it inevitably does.

Looking at the big picture, somebody has to pay for any credit you take. So in that sense no tax credit is really "free money".

But on the specific issue of whether you will have to repay the Making Work Pay credit directly, my understanding is you will not. In other words, it will not change your tax return for 2009/2010.

(To confuse the issue further, I'll bet the IRS will add the credit to your return, then subtract off however much you received throughout the year, for a net effect of zero.)

[Hot dog]

Well my check went down 30 this pay until June to account for the two furlough days the state made us take

[creditcardfree]

Well my check went down 30 this pay until June to account for the two furlough days the state made us take

Darn, I'm sorry to hear that!

[Pitman]

I got a few extra dollars, I was pleased to say the least. I definitely stimulated my savings account.

[red92s]

My mid-march pay remains unstimulated.