Moses Lake tax agent talks stimulus payments

People with $3,000 of eligible income may receive payment

MOSES LAKE - A Moses Lake tax agent is advising people who might not have filed their tax return in recent years to do so.

Some people may be eligible for economic stimulus payments, according to Candi Thonney, owner of Moses Lake-based Affordable Income Tax Service and an enrolled agent.

"The government passed a bill to try to spur the economy by giving people money in May through July for most people," Thonney explained. "Hoping they will go out and spend this money and, by the domino effect, spur the economy."

Most people who are eligible will receive $600. Some people receive $300, depending upon what shows on their 2007 tax return.

"They will not get more than their tax liability," Thonney said. "There are some other little caveats like everybody on the tax return has to have a Social Security number. An individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN, anywhere on the tax return will affect the payment."

Everybody who files a tax return who has at least $3,000 of qualifying income is eligible.

"That qualifying income can be Social Security, veteran's disability compensation, survivor's benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs and railroad retirement," Thonney listed. "So people who don't normally file a tax return because of all those things I just mentioned generally are not taxable if that's all they get. They need to file a tax return anyway to get the stimulus payment. And if they have $3,000 in any of those things, they want to file a tax return."

Eligible people can also get $300 per child under the age of 17 in 2008. Payments will be figured on the 2007 tax returns but they will be verified in 2008, and if people receive a partial payment in the early period, Thonney said, they may get the rest of the payment when they file the 2008 tax return if the conditions warrant.

"It is not a reduction of their refund, it is not taxable according to the information IRS has put out," Thonney said. "It does phase out for higher income people, singles at 75,000 and (married couples) at 150,000."

Other programs have been offered in the past providing money back, Thonney said. The last two payments were because of tax legislation changes and people got their payments in advance, but this stimulus payment has nothing to do with legislation, she said.

"Mostly I want to convey, everybody look into filing a 2007 tax return whether you have in the past few years or not, because you won't get this money if you don't," she said. "You may be deserving of it, and you need to find out if you are."

The IRS is already warning agents of telephone and e-mail scams going on with regard to the stimulus payments, Thonney added.

"There are already telephone and e-mail scams being run on this," she said. "IRS will not contact you by telephone or e-mail in any way, shape or form. You do not have to do anything other than file to get this money."

If somebody direct-deposits their 2007 refund, the stimulus payment will be deposited directly, Thonney said, but the payment will be mailed if someone does a refund anticipation loan. People owing will also get the check mailed to them.

For more information, call the Affordable Income Tax Service office at 509-765-4388.