Hi There! Click here for Information on the 2020 Stimulus Payments. This post is an old post on the 2008 rebate checks.
Have you filed your 2007 tax return, (even if you don’t normally file), waited at least 6 weeks, yet you still haven’t received your stimulus payment? It sure could come in handy this time of year! What should you do?
First, check this Stimulus Payment Calculator to make sure you qualify. Some of the reasons you might not qualify are covered in this post, Where’s My IRS Stimulus Payment?. If all these things check out, it could be that you are one of the 279,000 taxpayers who had their stimulus payment check returned by the US Postal Service. Apparently, IRS stimulus checks worth over $163 million have been returned by the postal service as being undeliverable. That is in addition to the $103 million in refund checks that were returned.
If you think you might be one of those 279,000 taxpayers who’s check was returned by the postal service you need to update your address right away. The stimulus checks must be sent before December 31, 2008. The IRS is recommending that you update your address by November 28, 2008 to insure that they receive their stimulus payment. You can update your address by filing form 8822. You only need to file the form one time and the IRS will send both your stimulus payment and any tax refunds that you are due.
But what happens if you are too late, and you don’t get your stimulus payment this year, are you out of luck? The good news is that if you qualify for the IRS economic stimulus payment, and you don’t get it this year, you can take it as a credit on your 2008 income tax return that you will file in early 2009.