Net income tax liability?

Question

married, filing jointly, we only got back $600, // $300 each, because the stimulus filing status said, it was because of our net income tax liability.....I dont understand, and we even paid the irs $600 from a mistake made in 2005..so we both only had social security income.. I cant get any straight answers, and I never heard of the $300 each , when you file joint!!

Answer 1

Your net income tax liability is one of the following depending on which form you filed:

·On Form 1040, the amount shown on Line 57 plus the amount on Line 52;

·On Form 1040A, the amount shown on Line 35 plus the amount on Line 32; or

·On Form 1040EZ, the amount on Line 10.

Your stimulus payment is based on your net federal income tax for 2007. If your tax was between $600 and $1200 on your joint return, you get back everything you paid. If your tax was less than $600, you get an even better deal, and get $600, even MORE than you paid in. If you paid over $1200 though, your rebate is limited to $1200.  All of the materials sent out said UP TO $1200 for a joint return.  Sounds like you ignored the UP TO.  With only social security income you paid NO tax for 2007, so got the minimum of $600

Any amount of back tax from previous years doesn't count.

Answer 2

The net income tax liability means the total federal tax you paid. Check your 1040 form for Total tax paid at the end.  If you and your spouse combined did not pay over $600 in federal tax, your rebate will be $600 only ($300 each times 2).  If you had paid over $600 in federal tax, your rebate would be more.  The $1200 for couples means you had to have paid over $1200 in federal tax, which you did not.

Answer 3

Married couples are eligible for a stimulus payment equal to the total amount of their 2007 tax liability, up to a maximum of $1,200.  If your 2007 tax liability was less than $1,200, your stimulus payment would be decreased to whatever your tax liability was.

There is another provision in the stimulus law that provides that a married couple's stimulus payment won't be decreased below $600 as long as the couple has at least $3,000 of "qualifying income," which includes things like wages, social security income and veteran's disability income.

Based on the information you provided, it appears that your 2007 tax liability was below $600, but that you had at least $3,000 of qualifying income.  That made it so you qualified for a $600 payment instead of receiving a lower payment based on your tax liability.

Answer 4

Gee, the 1378 letter you received earlier this year mentioned that the minimum would be $300 per taxpayer...I guess you didn't read it.

Almost every  article said $300 up to $600, depending on how much you pay in taxes (in 2007).  To get more than $300 you had to pay more in income tax.

With SSA income only, you got the minimum even though you actually paid nothing in income tax.