How to get your tax rebate

Most people only need to wait until the first tax rebate checks start rolling out in May. But some low-income seniors and others will need to take action soon to make sure they get a check.

If you wouldn’t normally need to file a 2007 federal income tax return, you will need to file a 1040 or 1040A now to receive a check of $300 or more under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

“The rebate will be based on a 2007 tax return,” said Marshall J. Hunt, certified public accountant and director of the tax assistance program for the Accounting Aid Society in Detroit.

To get the well-publicized check, a federal income tax return for 2007 must show at least $3,000 in qualifying income — such as earned income, Social Security benefits, certain veterans’ benefits and certain Railroad Retirement benefits. (If you’re a student and can be claimed as a dependent on your parents’ return, you don’t get a stimulus check.)

Tax rebate checks would range from $300 to $600 for individuals and $600 to $1,200 for joint filers. Taxpayers may receive $300 for each qualifying child younger than 17.

Luis D. Garcia, an Internal Revenue Service spokesman in Detroit, told me that the IRS is doing everything it can to alert many low-income people and seniors that they should now file a return for 2007. The IRS isn’t calling your house, though, so don’t fall for scam artists making calls.

File the return by April 15 so the payment won’t be delayed. To qualify, you need to show $3,000 in income by combining any earnings with these means:

U Form 1099-SSA that you received earlier this year.

People who do not have a Form 1099-SSA may estimate their annual Social Security benefit by taking their monthly benefit, multiplying it by the number of months during the year that they received benefits and entering the number on Line 20a of Form 1040 or Line 14a of Form 1040A.

Supplemental Social Security Income does not count.

U Form 1099-RRB for Railroad Retirement benefits.

The sum of veterans’ disability compensation, pension or survivors’ benefits received from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2007. People can estimate the annual benefit by multiplying the monthly benefit by the number of months in 2007 that they received the payments.

To add to the confusion, Line 20a and Line 14a refer only to Social Security. But the IRS has said that these are the lines to report Railroad Retirement or veterans’ benefits to qualify for the economic stimulus payments. You must write “Stimulus Payment” on the top of the tax form if you’re filing only to get that payment.

UAlso, you can combine some earned income and qualifying benefits to hit that $3,000 mark. So some folks who already have filed may want to amend their returns by filing a 1040X for 2007, to include eligible benefits.

For now, Hunt said his group must file paper federal returns — not electronically file — for those who have zero adjusted gross income. Some good news: You won’t need to calculate the amount of your rebate check.

X Susan Tompor is the personal finance columnist for the Detroit Free Press. She can be reached at stompor@freepress.com.