Where's My Rebate Check?!?

As I'm sure is the case with many other tax blogs, we've been getting a lot of hits about the rebate / stimulus checks. Last week the President announced that taxpayers would start getting their money this week but many are still looking for definite dates.

The IRS has published a couple of pages over at IRS.gov that should prove very useful in answering taxpayers' questions. First check out the Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator where you can calculator how much you can expect. As the site points out, this is an estimate but it is helpful.

Once you've determined if you can expect a check you can visit the Stimulus Payment Schedule page. This shows the schedule for payments and direct deposits for taxpayers whose returns were processed by April 15.

Direct Deposit

• If your last two SSN digits are: 00 through 20 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 2


• If your last two SSN digits are:21 through 75 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 9


• If your last two SSN digits are:76 through 99 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 16

Paper Checks

• If your last two SSN digits are: 00 through 09 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 16


• If your last two SSN digits are: 10 through 18 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 23


• If your last two SSN digits are: 19 through 25 then payments will be transmitted no later than: May 30


• If your last two SSN digits are: 26 through 38 then payments will be transmitted no later than: June 6


• If your last two SSN digits are: 39 through 51 then payments will be transmitted no later than: June 13


• If your last two SSN digits are: 52 through 63 then payments will be transmitted no later than: June 20


• If your last two SSN digits are: 64 through 75 then payments will be transmitted no later than: June 27


• If your last two SSN digits are: 76 through 87 then payments will be transmitted no later than: July 4


• If your last two SSN digits are: 88 through 99 then payments will be transmitted no later than: July 11

For more details check IRS.gov.

More IRS Email Scams

I know I've covered this before but it's worth repeating, especially now. With the tax stimulus rebate checks due to start arriving in mailboxes across the US next week taxpayers are eager to get their money and unscrupulous spammers and phishers are willing to take it.

They do this with a flurry of emails with a varying degrees of believability. As I went through my emails this morning I had two. One opened with, "We are pleased to inform you that upon reviewing your fiscal activity, we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of $252.15."

That kind of specificity made me take another look although I knew that it was a fake.

There are a number of ways to spot a fake email.

First, the IRS does not email taxpayers. It's that simple. Do not believe anything that arrives in your inbox that alleges to be from the IRS. Think about it, have you ever given the IRS your email address? In the normal course of events most taxpayers haven't and the tax collecting agency most certainly does not have time to seek out this information.

Second, check the URLs. Most spammers have become sophisticated enough that they can create a fairly convincing "From" addressee but one thing they can't hide is the embedded URLs in their emails. How can you tell? Float your cursor over the hyperlinked text - the highlighted words that will take you to another website if you click on them - and look in the lower left hand corner of the screen. If you're reading your email on a web-based program the URL will appear. It will most likely not be to the address that it purports to be. For example: IRS.gov See?

Third, does the email ask for personal information? If you receive an unexpected email that claims to be from the IRS, your bank, or anywhere else and asks for any kind of information it is very likely fake.

Overall, remain skeptical.

As for those rebate checks and where yours specifically is, we here at IrsProblemsResolved.com know just as much as you do.

Do Delinquent Tax Debts Appear on Credit Reports?

In a word, yes.

Often taxpayers overlook the relationship between their tax debt and the credit rating that shows up on their credit report. It is important to understand that tax leins can wind up on a credit report and negatively impact a consumer’s credit rating.

This is because tax liens and other such information is considered public information. Whether this is right or wrong is a discussion for another place but the fact remains. Credit bureaus regularly scan public records so they can provide their customer, the lending industry, as complete a picture as possible of consumer’s credit picture.

If you’re facing a delinquent tax situation it’s a good idea to address it as soon as possible, not only to get the IRS off your back but also to maintain a healthy credit rating.

Contact IRS Problems Resolved now and let’s start solving your tax debt now!

Where Can I Find IRS Tax Forms?

So you sit down to do your taxes. You’ve been putting it off for months and with less than two weeks left you decide it’s finally time.

You gather up that stack of “tax stuff” that’s been slowly growing since the first of the year and dive it. After getting everything in order and finally getting down to the numbers you realize that the IRS didn’t send you the right forms or perhaps didn’t send any at all. What now? You think that you once heard the post office keeps forms but you don’t want to drive down there and be wrong. Maybe it was the library?

Here are two quick and easy sources. If you have a printer hooked up to your computer you can go to the IRS Forms and Publications page of their site and print out what you need. Or if you can’t or don’t want to print your forms check out this handy IRS office locator. With it you can track down the nearest office to you where you can get the forms you’re looking for and even talk to an IRS employee if you need to.