Rebate Time! (Unless you aren’t used to filing).

You’ve probably heard about all the money you’ll be getting back because of the tough times this country is going through. But if you’re not used to filing your taxes every year, you may just miss out on that free money.

Anyone eligible for the tax rebate that was just passed must file a return to get their check. For most of the 130 million Americans eligible, that means filing their normal tax return, according to the IRS. The tax agency will figure out the rebate for you based on your 2007 return.

If you fall into the lower-income tax brackets, or if you receive Social Security and/or veteran’s benefits and don’t usually have to file your tax returns, you’ll have to file this year if you want that free money.

And unfortunately, for many of you out there, having to file is a deal breaker, and one which will cost you getting that little extra something in the mail.

The IRS said that it will work with the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and other organizations to ensure people eligible for the rebate are informed that they would have to file this year if they wanted to receive their share of Bush’s stimulus package.

The IRS has stated that they believe they will have to process roughly 10 to 20 million extra tax returns this year as a result of the stimulus package.

If you’ve filed or will be filing your taxes this year, and assuming you do so on time, you’ll likely see that nice little extra cash in your mailbox sometime in May. The rebate you get will not be counted as taxable income–but if you owe any back taxes, that check will likely be diverted from you to meet that obligation.

Another thing to note is that if your tax situation has changed for 2008, you may be eligible for a bigger rebate than you thought. If it’s changed and you’d be getting a smaller rebate, there’s nothing you need to do–the good old government will take care of that for you–as you probably already knew.

One of the fine points to the rebate is that you have to have a Social Security number to receive the rebate–but that seems kind of obvious.

Individuals with adjusted gross income of $75,000 are eligible for $600, and married couples filing jointly and making up to $150,000 would be eligble for up to $1,200.

If you want to learn a little more about taxes, check out the Tax Info Blog.