Gov. Checks

I'm thinking about cashing it, then buying a whole mess of the cheapest, nastiest, most rust covered and pitted pieces of cr*p guns I can find with it so when this is over I can "sell them back" to the government for MORE of my tax money down the road!

This could be the venture capital for a lucrative business which involves getting the government to WILLINGLY return all my taxes back to me!
 
I don't think it'll matter whether you send it back (to what address even), burn it, or use it.

It'll be tied to your SS number and the IRS will most likely send out a 1099 for it.

It'll come down to your own principle on what you do with it but you'll most likely get taxed on it either way.

I thought it was tax free. May have mixed up with some of the other stimulus stuff but thought it was the individual checks.
 
I'm thinking about cashing it, then buying a whole mess of the cheapest, nastiest, most rust covered and pitted pieces of cr*p guns I can find with it so when this is over I can "sell them back" to the government for MORE of my tax money down the road!

This could be the venture capital for a lucrative business which involves getting the government to WILLINGLY return all my taxes back to me!

lol brilliant. What do buy back programs typically pay in N.C.?
 
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With all the money I give them, and all the time and effort I put into figuring out how to give them less, you think I’m going to give them BACK money I didn’t even have to plot for? No way.
 
A
IRS will use 2018 tax return to calculate the check, if you filed then 2019. Should you not be eligible at this time you can try on the 2020 tax return to claim the credit. This will not be taxed, it is an advance on the 2020 tax year refund. If there is no direct deposit info on file with IRS you get a mailed check, social security will use direct deposit info.
Are you sure this is true? The advance on the 2020 refund part?
 
Are you sure this is true? The advance on the 2020 refund part?
Per Forbes it is an early payment of a special type of 2020 tax credit.
So how does this work? Do I need to file anything to get my check? Technically, the checks are advances of refundable credits. Treasury will advance your check based on your most recently filed tax return (2018 or 2019 tax return). If you haven’t filed a tax return, the bill allows Treasury to use the information on your 2019 Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement, Form RRB-1099, Social Security Equivalent Benefit Statement.

Okay, I don’t understand. What is a refundable tax credit? A refundable credit means that you can take advantage of the credit even if you do not owe any tax. Unlike with a nonrefundable credit, if you don't have any tax liability, the "extra" credit is not lost but is instead refunded to you.

In this case, the stimulus check acts like a refund that you get in advance based on your 2020 income. That’s confusing because you don’t know how much you’re going to earn in 2020, but it’s why the IRS is using earlier returns. But this advance payment on the credit does not affect your “normal” tax refund for 2020: you won’t lose out on your expected tax refund for 2020 with the check.
 
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So this won’t be deducted from your refund next year?
Nope, at least not according to the Forbes description.

The technicalities make it sound strange, but think of it as a no-strings-attached credit totally separate from the rest of your 2020 taxes, but the credit is paid to you early (now).
 
Funny how this works.

Everyone wants a smaller, less intrusive government until they pass out checks.

Cutting taxes would be a better alternative.

It’s >my< money I am getting back. Sorry this concept escapes you. The .gov doesn’t cut taxes. They took money from me. Now they are sending me back some of that money they took for me to use.

Enjoy sending your own money back, it’s probably coming in a direct deposit based on your 2018 return for most of us. And >if< it’s in the mail, then enjoy using the governments mail service to return it. Which will cost more of your own money.

If you don’t need it, take it and give it to a struggling family that does. Better you pick it than the .gov.


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It’s >my< money I am getting back. Sorry this concept escapes you. The .gov doesn’t cut taxes. They took money from me. Now they are sending me back some of that money they took for me to use.

I am pretty sure it is a refundable credit and income limited also. That means you can get the credit and a refund for it even if your taxes were zero or less than the credit. So lots of people will be getting other peoples’ money, and lots won’t get any of ours back because of the limit.

And since the gov doesn’t actually have ANY money, they are just putting it on our grandkids’ credit card.
 
The refundable tax credit makes sense. Basically they create a new tax credit for 2020 and then they add this payment not to income but straight to taxes due. The tax due and the credit cancel each other out, at least if you don’t change categories. If you bump up a category in income in 2020 then you could owe some of this back again unless they do something to prevent that.
 
I am pretty sure it is a refundable credit and income limited also. That means you can get the credit and a refund for it even if your taxes were zero or less than the credit. So lots of people will be getting other peoples’ money, and lots won’t get any of ours back because of the limit.

And since the gov doesn’t actually have ANY money, they are just putting it on our grandkids’ credit card.

Yes, there are some people who pay zero into the system that will benefit from this. Which sucks. But doesn’t mean I’ll heroically send my check back because that will somehow matter other than virtue signaling.


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I paid taxes to qualify for the check, I will probably pay more once this blows over, I am keeping mine.
 
I think most of us will be fine, married couples have a limit of 150K before it even starts to just phase out, not cut off entirely.
 
I think most of us will be fine, married couples have a limit of 150K before it even starts to just phase out, not cut off entirely.
Do you know if the 150k is on taxable income after deductions or on gross income?
 
The refundable tax credit makes sense. Basically they create a new tax credit for 2020 and then they add this payment not to income but straight to taxes due. The tax due and the credit cancel each other out, at least if you don’t change categories. If you bump up a category in income in 2020 then you could owe some of this back again unless they do something to prevent that.

OK, so this is how I envision this going.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, I get a $1,200 check out of this deal.

Next year, when I file my taxes, mumble-mumble-taxcredit-mumble-deduct-mathmathmath-exemptions-mumble-scribblescribblescribble-kidsincollege-blahblahblah...

Final tally: Well, lookie here! I owe an EXTRA $2,000 this year even though I should have come out about the same as last year!

Let's see if this isn't the way it works out.
 
Anyone that feels taking the check would be selling their soul to the government please email me for my address. I'll punish the big bad government by cashing all of yours. :D
 
OK, so this is how I envision this going.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, I get a $1,200 check out of this deal.

Next year, when I file my taxes, mumble-mumble-taxcredit-mumble-deduct-mathmathmath-exemptions-mumble-scribblescribblescribble-kidsincollege-blahblahblah...

Final tally: Well, lookie here! I owe an EXTRA $2,000 this year even though I should have come out about the same as last year!

Let's see if this isn't the way it works out.
Well it won’t work that way as currently implemented, they’ll give you the $1,200 credit then show the $1,200 as paid and you should be flat. Unlikely that they’ll change tax code for 2019, it’d be bad for T to do so and itkd be retroactive which is problematic. Most likely the screwing will start with 2021 taxes.
 
Here is the actual law: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and Subtitle B - Rebates and Other Individual Provisions starts on page 55.

I think the following on page 56 is the key to balance individual tax returns; the government will pretend a person paid in as much in extra taxes as the "refund" that will be paid out.
‘‘(f) ADVANCE REFUNDS AND CREDITS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (5), each individual who was an eligible individual for such individual’s first taxable year beginning in 2019 shall be treated as having made a payment against the tax imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year in an amount equal to the advance refund amount for such taxable year.
 
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I'm thinking about cashing it, then buying a whole mess of the cheapest, nastiest, most rust covered and pitted pieces of cr*p guns I can find with it so when this is over I can "sell them back" to the government for MORE of my tax money down the road!

This could be the venture capital for a lucrative business which involves getting the government to WILLINGLY return all my taxes back to me!
I have a dozen or so old receivers that are missing everything... $750 and that leaves you some cash to work with :)
 
From a CPA: "Taxpayers will reduce the amount of the credit available on their 2020 tax return by the amount of the advance refund payment they receive."

Translation? Meaning "Uncle Sam will take it all back later?"

Just being sure I understand that correctly.
 
Just being sure I understand that correctly.

Well, not being a CPA myself and not having slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night, what I gather is that the payment is an advance. One gets something now, in advance (if eligible), but that amount is deducted from what one claims as a credit in tax year 2020.

To be honest, I'd rather the money go into subsidizing milk; OJ, frozen food; and ammo TP delivery. :p
 
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We can just send our tax bill to Berinie and AOC.
 
From a CPA: "Taxpayers will reduce the amount of the credit available on their 2020 tax return by the amount of the advance refund payment they receive."
What specific tax credit are you referring to? I’ve had all kinds of tax credits over the years, but they were specific to kids, and such. Meaning, not everyone gets them depending on their individual situation.
 
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What specific tax credit are you referring to? I’ve had all kinds of tax credits over the years, but they were specific to kids, and such. Meaning, not everyone gets them depending on their individual situation.

Presumably, the credit that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, H.R. 748, puts in to place for tax year 2020. For more details, see the 800+ pages, but I am at the limit of what I can offer.
 
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