Do we have to repay the stimulus check we got last year if your getting a refund?

I use TorboTax to do my taxes. When I started my Federal return, one of the first questions was "Did you get a refund last year?" with Yes/no radio buttons. I figured it was just something the software wanted for reconciling it with last year's (I have 2007 software on the same machine), so I selected No. I put my numbers in and I am getting a refund (Yah-boo! Nice! Nice!).

The software was recommended that I do an eFile, so I selected it and sent it on it's way. I got an email saying it was rejected. I checked everything and resent; again rejected. I checked the messages on the status page and found what the problem was. It determined that I did get a refund last year and had to enter it in. So I found the refund I got last year and put it in. My refund went down $600. The only thing I can think of for that drop is the $600 given last year.

I thought that they said that it was not like 2001/2 where the money was an "advance" and had to pay it back?

Of course the rebate check was taken against your future taxes.. I thought everyone knew that..

I should've expected it.

http://www.nbcaugusta.com/news/business/37207879.html

and that's where I read that we did not have to pay it back.

That's why I am confused as to why I had $600 deducted from my total rebate check after entering last year's rebate.

for the refund (too poor. Well, I earned enough - barely - but my expenses canceled it out). So there you go.

Anyway, I looked it over pretty carefully and read several articles... and what people don't realize is that they were borrowing their own money. It was just "packaged" to seem like you were getting an extra perk.

That's not the way I understand it, but I am definitely NOT a tax, math or money person, but you can probably find the info at the IRS website (painful, I know).

as they say "nothing is free". Thanks.

Cant have us broke people buying food and stuff. :eyes:

is set up so that if you didn't get a stimulus check during 2008 you get a second chance in 2009. By saying no to receiving one, the program added an extra $600 to your refund. When it was rejected you were prevented from inadvertently double dipping.

When the OP mistakenly said NO on the form he was given an BONUS $600. (The $600 most people got in 2008).

By actually getting a check in 2008 + marking YES you were double dipping.

Essentially the refund was $600 to much because it would be like getting 2 $600 checks in 2008.
When you marked Yes it returned to your "normal" refund.

One line answer:
When you mark YES your refund is EXACTLY the same as if there was no stimulus check.
When you mark NO your refund is increased an EXTRA $600 (if you now qualify).

To the OP:
You can't get your $600 twice.

but being a good American, I chose not to. Yeah, that's it.

Thanks :hi:

I know that one of the reasons TurboTax is asking about your stimulus is because it will calculate if you were actually due more. The stimulus payments were based on your 2008 information, but they used your 2007 taxes to calculate the amount. So if, for example, you had another child in 2008, that is $300 more due to you... or if you were low income in 2007 but not in 2008 and received say $300 for yourself and spouse, then that's another $300 due to you (and spouse). If your information changed in the other direction, however, you get to just keep the difference.

It shouldn't have made your refund go down at all, because the stimulus was "free money".

We weren't "given" anything.

What was really done--was a handout to corporations. The President encouraged all of us to spend, spend, spend
that money. This was a windfall for corporate America. They kept the dollars.

After we enriched the corporations, by buying more expensive junk--we had to give the money back.

We weren't "given" anything. This was corporate welfare disguised as a giveaway to the American people.

They must have just laughed their asses off as they plotted this one!

Maybe it was trying to file for a refund $600 OVER the actual amount due to you, "thinking" you hadn't gotten last year's stimulus check because of something you entered (maybe even a misinterpretation of that "did you get a refund" question?). When you actually filed, the IRS knew you had gotten your stimulus $ and refused to give it to you again. In this scenario, you're not paying back the stimulus, you're just not getting it a second time.

or something else? The stimulus check was called the "Recovery Rebate Credit" and would be referred to as such by your software. If TurboTax asked me "Did you get a refund last year?" I would assume this is referring to an actual refund of withholding's and not the stimulus check. I don't use TurboTax so I don't really know, but the stimulus was not called a "refund" by the IRS, it was a credit payable in advance.

the refund I received last year was more than $600 and the text made no reference to the stimulus.

for sure how it is laid out this year. With TaxAct the stimulus figures are entered in the "Credits" section and it is called the Recovery Rebate Credit. If you received the check it does not lower your refund. It was a 2008 credit that was paid in advance. The credit was computed by the IRS based on your 2007 return so it could be higher if, for example, you had a child in 2008 and that would be paid on your current return.

If I were you, I would go back and re-enter the numbers. You don't want to pay the IRS any more than you legally have to. :)

And, btw, I switched to TaxAct.com a couple of years ago because they are much cheaper to e-file than TurboTax.

I never did it before before because it was "free, after we rebate you $14.95", but I figured I'd pay it (it nice to get a check in the mail a few months later, remembering what it was for). I didn't have to pay.

and got the same question. I entered the "rebate" amount I received, did the efile and was approved.

The rebates that happened in early 2008 represented a future 2008 tax cut. But instead of having to wait to get the tax cut when you filed your 2008 taxes in 2009 you got it early.

They did the same thing a couple of years ago and I had the same results then as you did this year.