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Military Stimulus?

My nephew is in the military and a few weeks ago I assisted him in filing his 2007 tax return and am now workiung on his 2008 tax return. In 2007 he was single; he married in Dec 2008 and is filing MFS for 2008 (his wife's parents want her as a dependent one last year

- they did support her over half the year).

He says that sometime in 2008, everyone in his unit received a $600 check while in a war zone that he claims was a "stimulus check." Since he hadn't yet filed a 2007 return, can this be a stimulus check? Is there any other type of payment that went out to the military separate from the stimulus checks?

On his 2008 tax return, he appears to qualify for a $300 rebate, assuming no payment received in 2007. (He has since lost his check and wants help to have it replaced. Does the IRS do that?)

Reply to
R. Pile
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"R. Pile" wrote

It was the noted "stimulus check" that we all received and spent to no avail.

If he did n't file his return in a timely manner (including extensions), he can get that amount on his 2008 return as a "Rebate Recovery Credit" seen on Line 70 of Form 1040.

As mentioned, he probably never received a check because he didn't file his

07 in a timely manner.

So if his 2008 income qualifies him for a credit of $300, then take it.

FYI: His bride will not get $300 if she is claimed as a dependent on her parents return. She'd get $300 if she filed jointly with him in most cases.

Reply to
Paul Thomas, CPA

To receive the check based on his 2007 return information, he had to file by October 15, 2008. The 2008 line 70 RRA credit is his only "choice."

Reply to
D. Stussy

Sorry, I wasn't clear. He claims that he DID receive a $600 check in

2008, even though he didn't file his 2007 tax return until a few weeks ago in Feb 2009. (He has now lost or misplaced the check.) Can this be a stimulus check? If not, is there some other kind of payment being sent to people in the military?
Reply to
R. Pile

Many of the military stationed in Iraq & Afghanistan had the person to whom they gave power of attorney file the abbreviated

1040A in order to get the $600 payment. No 1040A, no ESP. Other than that, I know of no other reason why he would have received a $600 check.

If this is what happened, then the 2007 return you filed will get bounced.

In the interim, just go to the IRS website where you can look up the amount of stimulus payment. You need the SSN, filing status & number of exemptions claimed.

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Reply to
Alan

Exactly my reaction, too. When a military member deploys over there, each military member is encouraged, nay manadated, that they have a power of attorny in place. So PROBABLY it was the wife who filed the

2007 return for her husband and got the money.

ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

Reply to
Harlan Lunsford

"Harlan Lunsford" wrote

I suppose you can POA anyone you want, but in my experience it's not going to be the future wife. We're guessing that he was engaged before deployment. That may not have been the case. So most often a parent is the POA on the soldier being deployed.

Reply to
Paul Thomas, CPA

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