Thursday, February 05, 2009

Confusion Over Recovery Rebate Tax Credit for 2008 Tax Returns

Although tax season just stated, the IRS is already reporting mistakes on tax returns, 15% of which are associated with the recovery rebate tax credit, writes MSNBC.com. You can find a portion of the article below, but the full article can be found here.

IRS staff say they have seen many errors on 2008 tax returns already. 15% of the mistakes are over the recovery rebate credit. The recovery rebate tax credit is an extension of last year's economic stimulus payment.

That money was spent in 2008, so the IRS is giving people whose situation changed more money. The IRS wants taxpayers to make sure they're eligible for the credit before they file their 2008 tax returns.

IRS representative Judy Monahan says most people won't receive additional money. She explains, " We paid out 119-million stimulus payments last year, so that's why most tax payers got all they were to get, but there could be certain circumstances where you could get more now."

Those circumstances include people who didn't file a 2007 tax return, had a kid in the last year, and were dependents last year, but can no longer be claimed.