Stimulus payment for non working house wife?

Question

I know this is late but I am just curious. I got a letter in the mail about my stimulus payment and on one section it said 900 would be payed and another it said 1200.

My wife does not work as we have a 19 month old son. He was born in November 2006 and my wife has been taking care of him instead of working for the past year. I know it says something about having to earn $3,000.00 in order to be eligible but if we filed jointly claiming our son as a dependent how much should we get back? Is it going to be 900 for me getting 600 and 300 because of our son. Or will it be 1200 as she has been a house wife? If you have any knowledge please let me know.

Answer 1

It will be $900 or $1500 (or possibly in between).  It depends on your total income.

If your income is so low (or deductions/credits so high) that your 2007 tax liability is below $600, you will get $900 ($600 for you and your wife plus $300 for your son).  If you income is high enough that you had at least a $1200 tax liability, you will receive $1500 ($1200 for you and your wife plus $300 for your son).

If you filed Form 1040, add lines 52 and 57.  This number is your tax liability for rebate purposes.  Add lines 32 and 35 if you filed Form 1040A.

Answer 2

if you guys claim your taxes together then you should both get $600... and if you have a son you get an extra $300 so you'll get $1500 all together.

That's what happened to a friend of mine

Answer 3

It depends more on your tax liability on your 2007 return than on whether she worked or not.  If you yourself made enough to have a large enough tax liability, you guys could get $600 each (even though she contributed nothing herself to your gross income) plus $300 for the child.

Try the IRS calculator:

http://www.irs.gov/app/espc

Answer 4

If you filed jointly you are treated as a unit - it doesn't matter which of you actually earned how much of the money, they look at the total.

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.

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.

Read the letter again.  Somewhere it might have said something about UP TO $1200, but at a guess it says you'll get $900, and that's what you are eligible for.  That's because of your tax, not because your wife doesn't work outside the home.