The check’s in the mail…
February 7th, 2008 by Grant in: Economics, TaxesCongress finally got an economic stimulation bill passed today that will supposedly prop up the economy by shelling out cash to tax payers as a tax “rebate”.
Over 130 million households will get tax rebate checks starting this spring progressing through the summer. The Senate tacked on additional rebates to President Bush’s original tax plan, adding 20 million senior citizens and 250,000 disabled veterans to the package.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the Internal Revenue Service will get to work immediately, but it will take two to four months for the rebate checks to arrive. Of course, they want to process your tax returns first…
Single taxpayers will get $600 and couples $1,200, plus $300 for each child under 17. Anyone with at least $3,000 in earned income last year will get $300, as will seniors on Social Security, even if they paid no income taxes. The rebates phase out beginning at $75,000 in adjusted gross income for individuals, $150,000 for couples.
I’m still not convinced this will do a darn thing for our economy. If we really wanted to stimulate the economic health of our country, we’d create tax incentives for companies to spend big money. Of the $168 billion in rebates, I predict half of it will actually turn around and be used for discretionary purchases that influence economic data.
Somehow I think we could entice big businesses like Microsoft, Google, oil companies, etc to spend well over $168 billion if given adequate tax incentive.
Just another example of how our government mismanages the economy.
Tags: economic stimulation | rebates | Taxes
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February 8th, 2008 at 12:53 am
This is disgusting.
And why call it a tax rebate when people can get it even when they paid no income taxes? Might as well call it a giveaway.
February 8th, 2008 at 7:42 am
On top of that, index, there is still question as to whether we’ll have to pay income taxes on this “rebate”, either on the federal or state level…