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What The 2009 Stimulus Bill Can Do For You
If you're an American, you probably look at the just-signed economic stimulus bill (called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) with a combination of trepidation and hope. This bill, totaling up to almost $800 billion in tax breaks and new spending, is the most costly single bill in American history. Its goal? To jump-start the ailing American economy and get more people working and spending money.
Whether the stimulus bill will accomplish its goals or not remains to be seen. But what is sure is that it will touch the lives of a huge majority of Americans. Want to have a better understanding of how President Obama's new bill will affect you? Read on for an overview of who will see what individuals and families will get from this huge block of government spending.
Couples and Individuals. Individual Americans will see a yearly tax credit of $400, and childless couples will get double that. Rather than an all-at-once tax rebate check, these tax credits will be spread out over 2009 (starting in June) and 2010, minimizing your federal income tax every month. As long as you make less than $100,000 as an individual or less than $200,000 as a couple, you will receive these credits (with some variations for under-$100,000 but still large income individuals) starting in June.
Low-income families. For low-income families with children, the amount that must be earned in order to qualify for a $1,000 tax credit has been lowered. Starting at $3,000, every dollar earned will help low-income families to qualify for the credit. This credit is also available to other families with three children or more.
Middle-class families with children. Some middle class families (those with 3 or more children) will be eligible for the $1,000 child tax credit described above. In addition, almost 30 million middle-class families will see their Alternative Minimum Tax (which was created to force the wealthy to pay some tax and tends to be very hard on the middle class) eliminated or reduced.
To help bear the burden of secondary education, families with children attending college may also qualify for a tax credit of as much as $2,500 to help cover the cost of tuition. This credit will run through 2009 and 2010.
Consumers. The 2009 stimulus bill also has many benefits in it for consumers/buyers. If, for instance, you want to purchase a home for the first time, the stimulus bill will make it cheaper and more attractive to do so. Those purchasing first time homes will get an $8,000 tax credit (up $500 from the previous tax credit) if they buy their home before a set date, and will not be required to repay the tax credit once it's been given (a significant change from previous policies).
After purchasing their homes (or for existing homes), the stimulus bill also includes a credit for making that home greener and more cost-efficient. Homeowners who upgrade to energy-saving windows and air conditioning/heating will be eligible to receive 30% of their cost as a tax credit on their federal income tax.
Those who buy new cars in 2009 will also see some benefits. These have been put in place to encourage consumer spending and provide assistance to the ailing auto industry. According to the bill, anybody who buys a new car, truck, or SUV after February 17th 2009 and before the first day of 2010 will be able to deduct the sales taxes paid on the vehicle from their federal income tax owed. This is only available for buyers earning less than $125,000 per individual and $250,000 per couple.
No matter what your feelings about the new Obama administration and its history-making new spending bill, you can probably see how widely this new bill blankets the American public. In addition to the benefits listed here for individuals and families, the bill also extends benefits to small businesses and other companies. Whether or not the bill actually stimulates the U.S. economy will remain to be seen... but an extra $400 in your bank account might not seem like such a bad thing.
About the Author This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where we always offer free internet dating. Datepad has a massive directory of informative free dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on our dating blog.
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