We weren't actually giving you $600. We were just loaning you $600 (even though you didn't ask for a loan) and we fully expect you to pay it back when you file your taxes. We didn't tell you this at the time because we knew you wouldn't like it.

Do me a favor Mr. Government, and don't send me anymore checks! I'd rather have gotten nothing than be forced to pay it back to you eight months later. Fucking douche bag government.

1/18/2009 1:55:54 AM

blame bush

1/18/2009 1:56:19 AM

I voted for Kerry

1/18/2009 1:57:01 AM

Hm fuck....?

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 1:58 AM. Reason : everybody or just you?]

1/18/2009 1:58:15 AM

huh?

1/18/2009 1:58:30 AM

1/18/2009 1:59:35 AM

what?

i'm not sure what you're talking about

1/18/2009 1:59:49 AM

plz to give more details

1/18/2009 2:00:34 AM

I find it really fucking funny that Turbo Tax online asks me if I got a Stimulus Check and asks me how much it was ($600), and then tells me I owe $617 in Federal. Kind of ironic, considering I always get money back from Federal.

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:01 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2009 2:00:49 AM

so see what you would get without the stimulus?

1/18/2009 2:02:00 AM

Good idea....

1/18/2009 2:02:26 AM

keep us updated.

if this is the case, there will be tons of pissed off people over the course of the next few months

1/18/2009 2:08:49 AM

Gee, well would you look at that. I tell Turbo Tax that I didn't get a $600 Stimulus Check and my debt to the Government goes from $617 to $17.

1/18/2009 2:08:51 AM

ouch, that really sucks

1/18/2009 2:10:12 AM

dont worry

barack will fix it!!

1/18/2009 2:10:18 AM

don't use turbo tax try h&r

when i used them last year they said i owed money then i entered my info into h&r and they said i got money.

1/18/2009 2:10:38 AM

OK I'll go try H&R real quick, see if anything changes.

Also, can I just say that I'm pissed about not being able to get an Education Credit for the tuition I paid this year because I'm married and filing separately.

1/18/2009 2:11:41 AM

Whoa really? Riot in the streets

1/18/2009 2:15:48 AM

You aren't really paying back the $600. It was an advance on a new credit issued by the IRS on 2008 taxes. So if you owe $617 it's b/c you would have owed that amount anyway.

The reason why TurboTax is adjusting your refund is b/c it is already applying the $600 credit. If you tell them that you never received a check, then you will be taking the credit twice.

1/18/2009 2:18:45 AM

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090113122444AAYS9rI

some say yes, some say its something the tax software does

i dunno, ill be pissed if it wasn't really a govt gift

1/18/2009 2:19:13 AM

Quote :

"Taxpayers should not be concerned that the tax rebate is only a mere future credit that has been accelerated into the present in terms of timetable. The economic stimulus tax rebate is a true credit for qualified taxpayers (free money essentially). The rebate amount that you receive now will not be used to offset any of your future income tax bill or any anticipated refund checks from filing your future 2008 tax return on April 15, 2009."

http://www.moneybluebook.com/breaking-down-the-details-of-the-2008-economic-stimulus-plan-and-your-tax-rebate-check/

1/18/2009 2:21:28 AM

^^^ seems like the logical explanation now that I have done some research

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:21 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2009 2:21:37 AM

http://www.irs.gov

Quote :

"What is it? It's an economic stimulus payment that more than 124 million households will receive. It's not taxable, and it won't reduce your 2007 or 2008 refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2008 return. Payments started in May and will continue through the end of 2008."

1/18/2009 2:23:21 AM

H&R Block gives me the same results. I owe $617. Though H&R Block did not ask me if I received a Stimulus Check, which seems kinda strange.

1/18/2009 2:23:32 AM

So is it tax evasion if you forget to put it in?

1/18/2009 2:24:12 AM

^ That is correct.

1/18/2009 2:25:28 AM

I went from Single to Married in June of this year (as far as taxes are concerned), and at that time I started getting an extra $62 per paycheck - basically $120/mo extra just switching from Single to Married.

Now, for the first time ever, I am finding that I owe money to Federal, and all I can figure is that it's because of that damn Stimulus Check. Doesn't make a lick of sense why I would start getting more in my paycheck when I switched from Single to Married, yet somehow end up owing $617 at the end of the year.

1/18/2009 2:28:26 AM

You're not filing separate, are you?

1/18/2009 2:31:30 AM

Yes we are filing separately because he's in a higher tax bracket than I am. When we file jointly, it pushes us both into that tax bracket, thus meaning I have underpaid my taxes by something like 3-5% and it makes us owe much more jointly than if we were to file separately.

Does that make sense?

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:36 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2009 2:36:28 AM

Any good "accurate" tax calculators? I havent gotten my w-2s yet and have a rough estimate what I made.

All the ones I've found say I'm getting huge rebates back and uh...that's never happened?

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:41 AM. Reason : sfwe]

1/18/2009 2:40:47 AM

If you've got your last pay stub of the year you can probably get a pretty good guess using the Turbo Tax or H&R websites.

1/18/2009 2:42:35 AM

Married filing separate is usually a pretty bad option, even if you are in separate brackets. Have you tried joint? I would give that a shot with TurboTax. I don't know the specifics of your income but I would bet that both of you would pay less overall that way.

1/18/2009 2:42:36 AM

So uh, why is it such a huge refund then? I mean that's awesome but I don't want to get excited if it's a lie.

1/18/2009 2:43:47 AM

OopsPowSrprs, we're still playing around with it online. We'll figure something out, but either way, it looks like getting married was a bad idea. We are going to end up paying over $2,000 back to the IRS.

Kiwi, that depends on how much you make. When I was in school full-time and working part-time, I was probably only making $8-10k a year, and claiming 1 dependent (myself) actually ended up taxing me too much, thus I ended up getting a few hundred back at the end of the year. But who knows really, without your W2 to know the true numbers I wouldn't get your hopes up too much.

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:46 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2009 2:45:16 AM

Word, I always put 0 because I dont want to owe, and I've made less this year but damn it's jumped up like 3k and I'm all

1/18/2009 2:46:45 AM

Well then that's probably the reason. Claiming 0 takes the most taxes out.

1/18/2009 2:47:17 AM

Quote :

"So now that you're getting ready to file your 2008 federal tax return, are you wondering if or how your tax rebate payment will affect your return? The short answer is, 'it won't.'"

http://digits.hrblock.com/topicsofinterest/beforeyoufile/2008taxrebate.php

1/18/2009 2:48:15 AM

I know, for my first job I put 1 and owed a shitton so from then on I was like FUCK THAT. I know it's giving the guvment an interest free loan but the big check is always nice around this time. It's never been that high of return though, just wondering if there's been a tax break or something to help folks out.

Quote :

"The tax rebate payment was an advance credit for tax year 2008 that you received early. If you received it once, you won’t receive it again when you file in 2009."

From H&R on the stimulus check

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 2:51 AM. Reason : dvfsd]

1/18/2009 2:49:54 AM

You might be using the wrong numbers, so don't start counting your chickens until you get your W2

And if you are getting $3k, hook a sister up, we owe a lot

1/18/2009 2:51:18 AM

lol after we move, sure

1/18/2009 2:51:49 AM

are you moving back to Raleigh????

1/18/2009 2:52:18 AM

No lol

1/18/2009 2:53:03 AM

I always thought that filing jointly was supposed to be the better way to go, but filing separately saves us $1200 according to Turbo Tax.

1/18/2009 2:56:31 AM

another nail in the coffin of traditional family values!11

1/18/2009 3:05:08 AM

looks like the issue has already been cleared up - sounds like you accepted the money having no idea why it was given out - probably like most idiot/uninformed americans

1/18/2009 10:39:41 AM

Yes things seem a little out of whack this year. I claim 10 on Federal and only owe about $1500, and 0 on state and owe about $700....

1/18/2009 10:52:06 AM

wow this thread is chock full of idiocy

1/18/2009 1:30:14 PM

Quote :

"We didn't tell you this at the time because we knew you wouldn't like it."

UMM BULLSHIT

1/18/2009 1:30:58 PM

For some reason I only got like 453/600 last year, they gave me the rest this year

Looking foward to my 2200 dollar check next friday!

1/18/2009 1:37:16 PM

The only explanation I can think of that wouldn't be caused by an error in the software would be if you actually should not have qualified for or not received a stimulus check. So then since you did, it's saying you owe the money back.

But that would be whack for the gubment to screw up like that without telling you for so long.

[Edited on January 18, 2009 at 1:39 PM. Reason : set em up]

1/18/2009 1:38:04 PM