The economic stimulus rebate checks are in the mail, have you gotten your rebate yet?  If you’re not sure whether you’re getting any money, check out these economic stimulus check frequently asked questions.

If you meet the qualifications and want to know when you’re getting your rebate check, the IRS has put up a site called “Where’s my Stimulus Payment” that allows you to check on it’s progress.  (Update: The IRS has also setup a rebate hotline so you can inquire by phone, 1-866-234-2942) In order to find out the status of your rebate on the website you’ll have to provide the following:

  • Your Filing status
  • Social Security Number
  • Number of Exemptions on your 2007 tax return

It may not be much help, it wasn’t for me.  I got the message “We are sorry. Specific information about your Stimulus payment is not available.”  The possible reasons they gave for not having any status on the stimulus payment were:

– Your payment may still be coming, but has not yet been scheduled
– You did not file a tax return for 2007 or your return is still being processed

I know I filed for 2007 so I figured it must be that our payment hasn’t been scheduled yet.  I checked out the stimulus payment schedule page and realized why they don’t have any information on our rebate yet.

“Stimulus Payments are being issued on a schedule according to the last 2 digits of the primary social security number (SSN) shown on your 2007 tax return. ….  Payments will be made by either direct deposit or paper check, consistent with how people filed their 2007 tax return.”

We paid our taxes via direct deposit so we should be on the fast track but my social security number doesn’t match the first set of criteria so we’ll have to wait a little longer:

Last two SSN digits: Payments will be transmitted no later than:
00 – 20 May 2
21 – 75 May 9
76 – 99 May 16

Unfortunately if you paid your taxes with a check, the stimulus payment schedule stretches out until July

Last two SSN digits: Payments will be transmitted no later than:
00 – 09 May 16
10 – 18 May 23
19 – 25 May 30
26 – 38 June 6
39 – 51 June 13
52 – 63 June 20
64 – 75 June 27
76 – 87 July 4
88 – 99 July 11

Avoiding Tax Scams
Spammers are trying to take advantage of the stimulus payment rush and sending out fake emails posing as requests for more information from the IRS.  According to this tax scam article the emails look very authentic but if you follow the links they contain you’ll be taken to a mock IRS site.

Any information you enter there could be used for identity theft purposes so don’t click on any links in emails about the tax stimulus payments, instead type in irs.gov if you want to visit IRS site.  If you do receive one of these fraudulent emails, you can forward it to phishing@irs.gov.

Written on May 8, 2008