Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns Processed by April 15

Economic stimulus payments will be issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social Security number.

Payments will be made by either direct deposit or paper check, consistent with how people filed their 2007 tax return.

Direct deposit:
People who use direct deposit also will be among the first to receive the payments starting April 28.

Direct deposits will be made daily and completed on the dates listed below.
Payments should be received by close of business on the dates listed below.

Last two SSN digits:
00 - 20 Payments will be transmitted no later than 2/5/08
21 - 75 Payments will be transmitted no later than 9/5/08
76 - 99 Payments will be transmitted no later than 16/5/08

More details

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Where's My Stimulus Payment - IRS

Specific Information about your Stimulus Payment will not be available until about one week before the payment is scheduled to be issued.

Stimulus Payments are being issued on a schedule according to the last 2 digits of the primary social security number (SSN) shown on your 2007 tax return.

If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit.

What to do get to your Stimulus Payment information?
enter your Social Security Number
Filing status (Single, Married Filing Joint Return, Married Filing Separate Return, Head of Household, or Qualifying Widow
Number of Exemptions shown on your 2007 tax return.


Enter

How Much money Is 2009 stimulus payment Worth?

Eligible individuals — between $300 and $600
Joint filers — between $600 and $1,200
With eligible children — an additional $300 for each qualifying child

stimulus check status

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Check your rebate status

Rebatestatus.com offers you a great service by which you can find the status of your rebate or premium submission.

How to use the service:
Enter your Last Name, Street Number, and Zip/Postal Code below.
All fields are required.

Check your Rebate status

Related:
Tax information for Homeowners

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Claiming the Child Tax Credit - a great deduction option

Deductions reduces your amount of taxable income, and using credit directly reduces your tax bill.

How?
For example you can claim $2,000 child tax credit to take your bill down.

From IRS:
With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to reduce the federal income tax you owe by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child under the age of 17.
The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins varies depending on your filing status:
• Married Filing Jointly $110,000
• Married Filing Separately $ 55,000
• All others $ 75,000

In addition, the Child Tax Credit is generally limited by the amount of the income tax you owe as well as any alternative minimum tax you owe.

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Itemized deduction

As an Individual taxpayer, preparing your Federal income tax returns leaves you with a choice to subtract the standard deduction for your filing status or the total itemized deduction amount:

Itemize your deductions (from a list of allowable items) and subtract those itemized deductions from your Adjusted gross income (AGI).

Alternately, you can elect (and any applicable personal exemption deduction) to arrive at their taxable income.

From Wikipedia:

The choice between the standard deduction and itemizing involves a number of factors:

• A comparison between the available standard deduction and allowable itemized deductions
  
• Whether or not the taxpayer has or is willing to maintain the records required to substantiate the itemized deductions
• If the total itemized deductions and the standard deduction are very close in value, whether the taxpayer would prefer to take the standard deduction to reduce the risk of change upon examination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (The standard deduction amount cannot be changed upon audit unless the taxpayer's filing status changes.)
• Whether the taxpayer is otherwise eligible to file a shorter tax form (like the 1040EZ or 1040A) and would prefer not to prepare (or pay to have prepared) the more complicated 1040 form and the associated Schedule A for itemized deductions.
• If the taxpayer is filing as "Married, Filing Separately", and his or her spouse itemizes, then the taxpayer must itemize as well.

This limitation of itemized deductions is being phased out.
The total reduction is itself subject to a reduction.
For taxable years beginning in 2006 and 2007, the amount is reduced to 2/3 of the reduction, and for taxable years beginning in 2008 and 2009, the amount is reduced to only 1/3 of the reduction.

Get the most out of itemizing on taxes as a little planning can help maximize your deductions, read this Msn money itemized deduction 2008 tip and put money back in your pocket.

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Tips on differentiating your income - Gross profit

Gross profit - Do you know what is it
Gross income includes everything you've earned as an income from different kind of sources including: salary, investment income - dividend income + interest income, prizes/awards you won and even the value of bartered goods or services you received.
Gross income also  includes wages, income from certain retirement accounts, capital gains, royalty income, farm income,

• Pensions.
• Interest.
• Dividends.
• Fees / commissions.
• Gross income derived from business.
• Gains derived from dealings in property.
• rental income
• Alimony and separate maintenance payments received.
• Annuities.
• Income from life insurance and endowment contracts.
• Income from discharge of indebtedness.
• unemployment compensation.

Tax Rebate - AGI:
Reducing the gross income by filing the correct tax form - 1040/1040A - U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
You can even try to fill the 1040A form online here.


Try IRS 2008 1040A form instructions.

AGI is the last number on the first page of the Form 1040, the standard U.S. income tax return form for individuals.

Form 1040A Income Tax Calculator

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How to file W-4

Form W-4 is a tax form used by the United States Internal Revenue Service.

The form is used by employers to determine the correct amount of tax withholding to deduct from employees' wages.

From The IRS website:

The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax.

There are two ways to pay as you go:

• Withholding of income tax from your pay or from certain other income as pensions, bonuses, commissions, and gambling winnings.
• In each case, the amount withheld is paid to the IRS in your name after considering the amount you earn and the information you give your employer on Form W–4.

or -

• Estimated tax made for People who are in business for themselves.
• You may have to pay estimated tax if you receive income such as dividends, interest, capital gains, rent, and royalties.
• Estimated tax is used to pay not only income tax, but self-employment tax and alternative minimum tax as well.

wikipedia:

• When filling out a Form W-4, an employee calculates the number of Form W-4 allowances you will claim, based on your expected tax filing situation for the year.
• For each Form W-4 allowance taken, the amount of money withheld as Federal income tax is reduced.
• This, in turn, reduces any tax refund for which you may be eligible, or conversely raises one's liability for taxes due.
• No interest is paid on over-withholding.
• Penalties are imposed for under-withholding beyond a certain threshold.
• The IRS Withholding Calculator can also calculate withholding allowances - the amount of income tax to be withheld from each paycheck you receive, more exactly.
  
  You may choose up to 10 withholding allowances.
  
  

Completing W-4 form is important because it allows your employer to withhold the correct federal income tax from your pay.

Find out how to complete Form W-4 2009

Related articles:
Tax withholding

Topic 753 - Form W-4 – Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate

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