I am working on my taxes on turbo tax. I went step by step and at one point it asked me how much we received for the stimulus check. I entered it into that space. I already owed the IRS $1000. + . I got a $1500 stimulus check, and when I plugged that amt into the space on my turbo tax, it showed I owed that much more to the IRS. Basically, that tells me I have to give it all back to them. I did my sons taxes, and he was going to bet a $100 refund, now he owes $1100. He got a $1200 stimulus check. Anyone else have any imput on this? I emailed turbo tax, no response. I called the IRS, and just spent 45 min talking to them, and they said I would have owed it already anyway if I hadnt gotten the stimulus check. Yea right. I guess the stimulus check was an advance on our 2008 taxes, and if we owed, then we just have to pay it back. I just dont understand this. If we get another stimulus check, I am going to return it....
I am so mad!!!!

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A mother holds her children's hand for awhile; their hearts forever.

I noticed it on ours too. It asked how much of a stimulas check we received and I put in the amount and it said that that was the correct amount.

However, I put in my son's information, and he actually didn't receive enough of a stimulas check. That was then automatically added to his refund. He ended up receiving $292 more. (Now how it came to that calculation, I have no idea!) He got $300. He should have received $600, but it 'gave' him $292.

Here are some links:

How the Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Will Affect 2008 Tax Returns (Updated January 26, 2009) - Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog

"
How the Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Will Affect 2008 Tax Returns (Updated January 26, 2009)

By Flexo on Friday, February 8, 2008 in Taxes

2009 Update: Are you looking for information about President Obama’s plans for a 2009 economic stimulus? Please view this article for Barack Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus plan and see how Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus will affect you.

If you’re trying to understand the recovery rebate credit or why it seems like you owe your stimulus back to the government, please read this article about the stimulus payment and the comments in green. Also consider subscribing to Consumerism Commentary to receive updates about the economic stimulus.

Welcome to the readers who are coming to Consumerism Commentary searching for information on the tax stimulus package passed by Congress yesterday and presented to President Bush today for his final signature. A number of readers who have been visiting the rebate calculator are wondering how this rebate will affect tax returns when filing 1040 forms for 2007 and 2008.

Updated March 18, 2008.

First of all, there will be no effect to 2007 tax returns. The “rebate” that will be signed into law next week is actually an “advance” on a new credit that will be presented on 2008 tax returns.

In April 2009 or thereabouts, when you file your taxes for 2008, the IRS will run the calculation for the stimulus rebate again. If the results show that you would have received more (due to an additional child, for instance), you will be sent the difference (or owe less on your final tax bill). If your results show that you would have received a smaller rebate, then you get to keep the difference.

To summarize, the rebate that will be sent out in May 2008 is a credit to the taxes you’ll owe on 2008 income, but it is a new credit, so you don’t have to “pay it back.”

Here two important things to remember:

TurboTax is Easy, Free Edition, Fast Refund

* In order to receive the rebate in approximately May 2008, you need to file your 2007 tax return.
* The amount of the rebate is calculated using your earned income; if you earned over $3,000 in 2007, you’ll be eligible, but if you had an adjusted gross income of over $75,000, then the rebate will be reduced by 5% of your overage.

March 18, 2008 Update: The IRS has released a schedule estimating when you will receive your rebate.

January 26, 2009 Update: You may be wondering why it seems like you need to pay the IRS back for the stimulus payment you received in 2008. You don’t. The “recovery rebate credit” is for those who didn’t receive a stimulus check in 2008 or received less than they qualify for now. You don’t owe more money than you would have otherwise, if there had not been an economic stimulus plan, even if it appears that way. Read this article (Filing Your 2008 Taxes With the Economic Stimulus (Recovery Rebate Credit) - Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog) about the recovery rebate credit to understand more."

Filing Your 2008 Taxes With the Economic Stimulus (Recovery Rebate Credit) - Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog

"To summarize, the rebate that will be sent out in May 2008 is a credit to the taxes you’ll owe on 2008 income, but it is a new credit, so you don’t have to “pay it back.” (this is from 1st link)

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

OP,
The stimulus you received last year is not added in as income. Turbo tax is just asking that to see if you qualify for the recovery rebate credit. Very few people qualify, we do because my son was born last year and so we get the additional 300 for him. Chances are that you don't have enough being taken out for federal taxes and it's hitting you hard.
Here is some info direct from the irs website.

Stimulus Payments Not Taxable; Reports of Extensive Refund Delays False

The IRS has received a number of recurring questions involving stimulus payments and the recovery rebate credit. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

Taxability. The economic stimulus payment is not taxable and it should not be reported as income on the 2008 Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.

Refund delays. IRS personnel are aware of reports that errors in claiming the recovery rebate credit could delay tax refunds for as much as eight to 12 weeks. These reports are false. As the IRS detects and corrects return errors concerning the recovery rebate credit, refund delays are currently no longer than about one week.

One payment. In addition, the IRS notes taxpayers will receive a single refund that includes any recovery rebate credit to which they are entitled. The IRS will not be issuing separate recovery rebate credit payments.

Refund amounts. The IRS reminds taxpayers they should not use their regular refund from last year in calculating the recovery rebate credit. Some taxpayers may be confusing their regular tax refunds with the economic stimulus payment they received when completing their 2008 tax return.

Direct Deposit Requests. Taxpayers who request a direct deposit will receive the refund in the form of a direct deposit even if errors are detected.

For more information, visit the Recovery Rebate Credit Information Center as well as the rebate questions and answers.

I found this posted at another board I go to.
Stimulus checks scrambling many tax returns - Tax Tactics- msnbc.com

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Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking

Thank you for the link the information was very helpful to me

Last line of the article says to leave the line blank or enter a 0. Has anyone tried this? We haven't done our taxes yet but did purchase Turbotax Deluxe from Costco a few weeks ago when their $10 off coupon came out.

Great info, thanks.
MZ

I have been working on the turbo tax for the past couple hrs. If you put 0 and you received a refund, then you will get a letter from the IRS tell you that you owe them. If you put 0, that says you didnt get a refund, which that could trigger a refund to you of that amt you already got. I wouldnt want to try that. I spent 45 min or more on the phone with the IRS, and they tried to explain to me what was going on, but it didnt make any sense. I still plug in the refund received, and it makes me owe that much more. I take it off, and I get a refund. When I plug in my stimulus refund, it also tacks on a $19 penalty. wow, is that another way of saying interest? I am sooooooooooooo mad! I went thru turbo tax and did my son and wifes taxes, and they owe the stimulus refund back. They dont have a dime to their name. They paid bills with that stimulus check. What are they suppose to do now?

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A mother holds her children's hand for awhile; their hearts forever.

Turbotax had issues it is widely known they have issues. The IRS has issues this year with the Rebate Recovery Credit. If you got more than you were supposed to on your Stimulus check you are not supposed to pay it back. The IRS website says that all communications I get from H&R Block that come through the IRS says that. There was a big glitch for awhile where you did have to put $0 or an ungodly amount like $10,000 in the how much was your stimulus payment to get the IRS to accept your return. They as in the IRS were not ready for this Rebate REcovery Credit for those who did not get enough or the Stimulus reconciliation and because of that it has held up refunds.

Go to HRBlock.com and try out the Taxcut which is free and see if you get the same results. I am more than willing to look at your stuff and see what is going on my block email is not working but I can send you my regular one or even my number at work and you could fax it to me and I can give it a second look for free, just PM me. I work today 9-9 and am supposedly off until Wednesday. Also H&R Block is online at Facebook H&R Block | Facebook and Myspace MySpace.com - H&R Block | The Tax Pro Team and on Twitter HRblock you can ask them questions just do not say you are using Turbo Tax thats an evil word and trust me I used to use it but I switched to Taxcut and have less problems.

ETA: when was the last time Turbo Tax did an online Update? Go to the options I think it maybe under tools and do a manual update it could be the software needs the most recent update to fix the glitch.

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

You can also try any of the free tax programs from the irs.gov site. I've used multiple ones, taxslayer is great, so it OLT.com. I'd be willing to look at your numbers also, I do it for many family and friends, I've done it for years. Let me know if I can help!

Did you get some type of statement that told you how much you received for the stimulus? I don't recall receiving one. What was the standard amount for a married couple with no children? I'm pretty sure that's what we got. Was it $1200?

Thanks.

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Linda

I used TaxACTonline today and it handled the stimulus properly in both instances. We got the stimulus last year and our son gets the rebate credit this year and it calculated them properly.

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"Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way."
Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

I just found out something about Turbo tax that may answer the OP's question. Turbo tax automatically puts in the amount you should have received for the stimulus in the refund box (so it acts like you didn't receive it) so then when you enter in the amount of the stimulus you received, it subtracts it from what your refund would be, (or adds it to what you should owe) so it's not anything to do with the IRS, it's just the screwy turbo tax software. . . So for me for instance, it would put in a refund of 2400 (the amount I received for the stimulus) + anything I over paid. So then when I enter in the amount I received for the stimulus, it subtracts it from the refund amount...
Or if I was going to owe $1000 to the IRS because I didn't have enough taken out, then it would have originally shown a refund due of $1400, then when I enter in the amount of the stimulus, it would correctly show that I owe the $1000 that I did not have taken out for federal taxes.
I hope this helps clear up OP's question. So it's not the IRS, it's turbo tax causing the confusion.

That's good to know. DH still does not have one 1099 so I'm still waiting to file using TaxAct.

This should help you plug your info in and it will tell you what it was
https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof/IRSer...ectLanguage=en

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

I did say there are known issues with Turbotax and they must not have did a work around yet. but...

The IRS is also having issues and I fielded over 100 calls in the last two days about the problems alone and its nothing we have done, its industry wide but as of I think 1/26 the IRS "Fixed" their issue so we're all hoping that no more direct deposit or Stimulus and Rebate Recovery Problems happen.

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~ Christine ~
Grammie to Trinity Lorayne Jean Keens Born June 9, 2011 Loving my awesome guitar picking 100% Country Boy boyfriend Kenny !
RIP Daddy~ 01/24/1930-06/01/2007 I miss you !
Dont Think you Can .. know you can ~ Jeff Hardy

Married with no children got $1200 back. I got $1500 back because I have one child still under 17. You can go to the irs.gov site, and it tells you how much you got back depending on how you file. You can also call. Maybe check out your bank acct deposits for last summer to see what the amt was.

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A mother holds her children's hand for awhile; their hearts forever.

I've tried this on taxact.com free online and turbotax premium. Both say the same thing. If I put in that we received the $1200 then I own $934. If I don't then I will be getting $266 back. That's a difference of exactly the $1200.

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oupiglet...addicted to free stuff!

I used taxact put in the 1800 we got back and we had no problems at all with our taxes. It didn't make us pay that back or anything.

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Mom to Jake, Zach & Meghan
SJCC STREAKS FOOTBALL!!
CLEVELAND BROWNS FOOTBALL!

I know that at least with turbo tax, (I think tax act is made by the same company?) they automatically put in that you get the refund... So it acts like you DIDN'T get it to begin with, that is why it's showing that you would be getting a refund, when in fact you should be at all... What are your normal taxes like? Do you generally get a refund? Or do you generally owe around $1000?

I have no idea what is "normal" for us. This is only the second year that I've filed as a married person. My income went up this year, but my husband was unemployed for about 9 months of 2008.

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oupiglet...addicted to free stuff!