The stimulus rebates that were granted by the federal government in 2008 may or may not be renewed in 2009. These rebates were based on a federal government income tax rebate to stimulate the economy by giving taxpayer’s more money to spend.
As the economy is even worse going into 2009 than in 2008, the federal government should and will consider extending a new income tax rebate for the 2009 tax year, but it is anyone’s guess whether that will be under the same system that was used before.
As an outsider, so far I see Barack Obama doing things very much the same way that George W Bush had done them before. It seems very likely to me that Mr. Obama and Congress will ask the IRS to once again issue stimulus checks as rebates from the federal income tax in 2009.
If not, another kind of tax cut is very likely in its place. But the IRS now has a year under its belt to figure out the most efficient ways of getting the money back to taxpayers to spend in the economy. Frankly, the IRS is the government’s biggest spending weapon in trying to get the economy going in. It is like the federal reserve in that it has so much it can do with so much money!
Regardless, be sure to follow the news and updates on what will become available in 2009. You may have more money coming back to you and sooner than you think!
TurboTax Online is an excellent resource to track your tax information needs.
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