UPDATE…
IRS has news in the mail for you that you won’t mind getting
By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch
Feb. 28, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — You’re about to get a letter from the Internal Revenue Service, but don’t worry. This one’s not an audit.
The IRS said Thursday it will soon start sending letters to more than 130 million Americans to tell them they need to file a tax return if they want to receive their stimulus-package payment.
The informational letters — you don’t need to respond to them — will “remind people that they won’t need to do anything more than file a 2007 tax return in order to put the stimulus payment process in motion,” said Linda Stiff, acting IRS commissioner, in a press release.
The IRS will start sending letters in March. They’ll go out in three weekly batches to taxpayers who filed a return last year. For a sneak peek of what the letter will look like, click on the link in the IRS announcement today. See the IRS press release.
Among other things, the letter states that “to receive a payment in 2008, individuals who qualify will not have to do anything more than file a 2007 tax return. The IRS will determine eligibility, figure the amount and send the payment.”
But, the IRS warned, some people will need to take an extra step: Recipients of Social Security and veterans’ benefits often don’t file a tax return, but they will need to do so this year if they want their rebate check. The IRS will send a special letter in late March to some beneficiaries to alert them to this fact.
“In order to receive a stimulus payment, people in this group need to file a tax return if they have at least $3,000 from a combination of certain Social Security benefits, veterans’ benefits and earned income. The minimum stimulus payment for these people is $300 ($600 for married filing jointly),” the IRS said in its press release.
