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As part of a nationwide campaign called Super Saturday, the Internal Revenue Service taxpayer assistance center at 300 S. New St. in Dover will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, March 29, to help people file a tax return to receive their economic stimulus payment, commonly referred to as a federal rebate.
Millions of people, including approximately 60,000 in Delaware who qualify for an economic stimulus payment, may not normally be required to file a tax return and may not have done so in several years.
The goal of Super Saturday is to help those people file for and receive their economic stimulus payments.
To qualify for the minimum economic stimulus payment, people must have at least $3,000 of qualifying income in any combination of income from Social Security retirement, disability or survivors’ benefits; disability compensation, disability pension or survivors’ benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs; Tier 1 benefits from railroad retirement; certain combat pay; and earned income from wages, salaries, tips or net earnings from self-employment that are includible in taxable income.
Under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, people may be eligible for the minimum payment of $300, or $600 for married couples, even if they are not normally required to file a tax return because their income falls below the filing requirement.
There also is an additional payment of $300 for people with eligible children younger than 17 as of Dec. 31, 2007. However, people must file an income tax return to receive the payment.
The Internal Revenue Service website, IRS.gov, also provides information about the economic stimulus payments, including general information and frequently asked questions.
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IRS announces dates economic stimulus checks will be mailed
The Internal Revenue Service will begin sending more than 130 million economic stimulus payments starting Friday, May 2. The initial round of weekly payments will be completed by early July.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also announced the availability of a new online calculator on IRS.gov to help people determine the amount of their stimulus payments.
Stimulus payments will be made by direct deposit to people who choose to receive their 2007 income tax refunds through direct deposit. All others will receive their economic stimulus payments in the form of a paper check. Stimulus payments will be sent out in the order of the last two digits of the Social Security number used on the tax return.
Because the IRS will use the Social Security number to determine when checks are mailed, taxpayers may receive their checks at different times than their neighbors or other family members. On a jointly filed return, the first Social Security number listed will determine the mail-out time.
Taxpayers who choose direct deposit on their federal income tax returns can expect to receive their economic stimulus payments between May 2 and May 16 provided their returns were received and processed by April 15.
For taxpayers who did not choose direct deposit on their tax return but whose returns were processed by April 15, the paper checks will be in the mail starting May 16, with the initial mailings completed by around July 11.
Anyone who has prepared a 2007 income tax return can use the online calculator.
It will ask taxpayers a series of questions, so they should have their 2007 tax returns handy. After answering the questions, the calculator will provide the projected dollar value of the payment.
Below are the schedules for economic stimulus payments related to tax returns processed by April 15.
Economic stimulus payment deposit should be sent to bank accounts by May 2 if the last two digits of the Social Security numbers are 00-20; May 9, 21-75; and May 16, 76-99. For those who receive paper checks, the disbursement is as follows: May 16, 00-09; May 23, 10-18; May 30, 19-25; June 6, 26-38; June 13, 39-51; June 20, 52-63; June 27, 64-75; July 4, 76-87; and July 11, 88-99.
To accommodate people whose tax returns are processed after April 15, the IRS will continue sending weekly payments.
People who file tax returns after April 15 and receive a refund can expect to receive their economic stimulus payments in about two weeks after receiving their tax refunds, but not before the date they would have received their payment if the return had been processed by April 15.
To ensure taxpayers receive their stimulus payment this year, they must file a tax return by Oct. 15.
Two bureaus of the treasury department are involved in making the payments. The IRS will calculate the amount of each economic stimulus payment based on the tax year 2007 income tax returns it receives.
The IRS will then forward the information to the Financial Management Service, which is the bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury that makes federal payments such as Social Security benefits, federal income tax refunds and now economic stimulus payments.
The IRS reminds taxpayers that they can get their stimulus payments faster by using direct deposit when they file their tax return. In addition, the IRS urges taxpayers to file electronically. For people who normally don’t need to file a tax return, the IRS and Free File Alliance have a special program set up to allow for free electronic filing.
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