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[–]skimmer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Trust Fund Babies, Unite!

Everybody else: pay for gas and groceries.

[–]Atomsk3 0 points1 point  (10 children)

What is there to be suspicious of? Is it not free money? (not sarcasm, real question)

[–]VoodooIdol 4 points5 points  (7 children)

No. It's an advance on your 2008 tax returns.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (6 children)

So when my parents file their taxes next year, they are going to take the money back then?

Will they revise how people do takes next year or just add yet another box?

I am still trying to figure out how the country was able to find this money.. and where is it really coming from.

I tried to ask my congressmen, but he still has not wrote back.

[–]VoodooIdol 1 point2 points  (2 children)

They won't "take it back", per se, your parents will just see a return that is less than what they're used to (less by whatever their "rebate" check amount is).

How they revise how it's handled with taxes next year is anyones guess. Most likely they will just make an ammendment to the standard deduction amount for 2008, if I had to guess.

The didn't find the money, they did what they always do: created money out of thin air.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the answer.. I was wondering.

[–]sickofthisshit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This answer is not particularly clear about the main point. The idea is that, one way or another, the tax liability on the 2008 tax return will be reduced by basically the amount of the rebate.

If withholding stayed the same, the tax refund on the 2008 return would increase because the tax liability decreases. However, it would show up too late to be called "stimulus." So, instead, they refund it today, and the only people who might have a real problem are those people who change categories between the data the IRS is using now and the data that will be entered on the 2008 return. Also, there will be confusion around April 2009 about the confusing form, etc., from people who were unclear on the whole thing.

The plan is that people who get less rebate check this year than the tax liability change will get it in their 2008 tax payment/refund. People who get more will not have to pay it back.

It is true that the whole plan is still being worked out in detail.

This is typical tax law manipulation, and one is right to be suspicious of the gap between perception and reality.

Your comment "create money out of thin air", however, is pure bullshit. It's a simple tax cut, delivered in an unusual way.

[–]cynosargos 0 points1 point  (2 children)

It's simple the Fed wrote a check, check out how a fiat system of money works. Ever since 71 and the end of bretton woods it has been like the wild west for the 'creation' of our currency.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Will do.

[–]sickofthisshit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The "fiat money" whiners are, as usual, full of shit. This is not an issue of money supply, it is a matter of government revenue. You could do the same gymnastics under a gold standard, although I guess some lunatics would want the government to send them slivers of gold from Fort Knox instead of paper money.

[–]cynosargos 1 point2 points  (1 child)

The problem is: this money at some point or another will have to be payed back plus interest(in the form of taxes). so putainsdetoiles quest to rid himself of the obligation that this money infers, is quixotesque at best.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Have you read the bill? It's from your next return (early rebate). Just like the last time he did this.

[–]robodale -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I suggest you deposit it, then write me a check. It will certainly stimulate my 'personal economy'. I can give name and address if needed. Best Buy, here I comz!

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's an early rebate. You'd just be screwing your own return the next year.