Lao Voices

After two weeks of intense negotiations, Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. The plan will provide tax rebates of up to $600 for individuals and up to $1,200 for couples filing jointly, with an additional payment for families of $300 a child, and a minimum payment of $300 for individuals who pay less than that in income taxes.

This plan also includes payments for some 20 million Social Security recipients and 250,000 disabled veterans who would not have qualified because they do not earn income, but the illegal immigrant workers will not receive payments.

Payments will be reduced for individuals with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) above $75,000 and couples with incomes above $150,000, with the wealthiest taxpayers receiving nothing.

If you already have plan for this money, great, if not then you need to start thinking about it because the lawmakers and President Bush hope that this will set off a rush of springtime spending and spark the slowing economy. Of course paying off old debts doesn’t, and will not help to stimulate the economy, making new purchase is the key here.

As for those that claim of making tons of money, some talking in term of 6 digit figures, don’t make a mistake by telling people that you will be getting this rebate check, or 5 months from now that you got the check, don’t tell on yourself, just a word of caution.

President Bush is expecting to sign this bill as soon as it reaches his desk, might be this Wednesday. The treasury Department and the IRS have also indicated that they will immediately begin to prepare to issue the rebate checks, the checks would be distributed beginning in early May, after the rush of the tax filing season. Source.