To get a clearer understanding of the rules, let’s walk up the income levels and explain how it works; beginning first with those filing their taxes as singles and then adding in families. How the phaseouts work, from what I can understand, is that you first determine eligibility (if you earned more than $3,000 and paid taxes) and then, if you fall in to the phaseout, start reducing your benefit.
Singles
Determine Eligibility:
If you earned less than $3,000 - unfortunately you’d get nothing.
If you earned more than $3,000 but paid no taxes, you’d get $300.
If you earned more than $3,000 and paid taxes, you get $600.
If you have children, add $300 per.
Determine Phaseout Reduction:
The phaseout levels begin at $75k and end at $87k, at a reduction of 5% per $1,000 over the lower limit. If you earn above $87k, you’re over and thus get nothing regardless of the math.
Couples
Determine Eligibility (appears to be the same as singles):
If you earned less than $3,000 - unfortunately you’d get nothing.
If you earned more than $3,000 but paid no taxes, you’d get $600.
If you earned more than $3,000 and paid taxes, you get $1,200.
If you have children, add $300 per.
Determine Phaseout Reduction:
The phaseout levels begin at $150k and end at $174, at a reduction of 5% per $1,000 over the lower limit. If you earned above $174k, you’re over and thus get nothing regardless of the math.
Some Common Examples
These are taken from a post by Gridking on Tickerform.org:
- An individual with $2,500 in earned income in 2007: Disqualified because income fell below the $3,000 threshold. No rebate.
- A married couple with no children, with adjusted gross income of $100,000 in 2007: Would qualify for the full $1,200 couples. A $1,200 rebate.
- A worker with one child, who earned $9,000 and owed no taxes in 2007: Would qualify for the $300 rebate available to individuals who pay no taxes but earned at least $3,000, plus an additional $300 for the child. A $600 rebate.
- A couple with income of $145,000 in 2007, with three children: Would qualify for the full $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. A $2,100 rebate.
- A couple with income of $160,000 in 2007 with two children: Would qualify for a partial rebate, reduced by 5 percent for every $1,000 in income above the $150,000 threshold. An $1,800 rebate $1,200 for the couple plus $300 per child — would go down by 50 percent for this family. A $900 rebate.
- A couple with income of $200,000 and four children: Disqualified because their income exceeded $174,000, the phase-out limit. No rebate.
There were a few other salient details to the bill, including a temporary raising of the individual mortgage ceiling that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could purchase (FHA loan limits) - increasing it to a whopping $729,750 (up from $417,000), and business tax breaks for infrastructure investments.
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