Category: Government Rebates and Payments

Even though President Obama and Congress have signed into law sweeping health care reform many employees are still in the dark about how their employer sponsored health care benefits will be affected and wondering when new provisions in the approved health care bills will go into effect. Rather than reading…

As a result of changes made under the Affordable Care Act, health coverage provided for an employee's children under 27 years of age is now generally tax-free to the employee. IRS Notice 2010-38 detailed these changes These changes allowed - but does not require - employers to permit employees to…

Unfortunately it looks like the chances of a further extension to the home buyer tax credit are lessening by the day as stronger housing data and focus on reducing government debt and foreclosures emerges. Bloomberg reports that purchases of new homes in the U.S. surged 27% in March, the most…

[Update] The government is starting to mail out the tax free $250 medicare gap  checks to seniors who fall into the program's gap in prescription drug coverage. This so called Medicare "doughnut hole," payment (detailed below) was part of the recently enacted Health care reform bill. If you have Medicare prescription…

[Updated with New IRS provisions] The IRS has released more details on tax-saving opportunities included in recently enacted HIRE act federal legislation (see details in previous update below). A variety of business tax deductions and credits were created, extended and expanded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009…

[Updated following SOU speech] President Barack Obama has proposed a new round of stimulus spending in 2010, focused on middle class families struggling to pay bills and care for their families. The initiatives in the new stimulus package are a product of a middle class task force headed by Vice…

Below are the latest Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) tables and income qualification thresholds adjusted for recent tax years and new legislation. These limits are adjusted annually in line with inflation and other government mandates. The EITC has returned to normal levels following the temporary expansion of eligibility rules and…

Under the recently enacted $2 trillion Coronavirus stimulus bill (CAREs act), federal funding will be provided to extend existing state administered unemployment insurance (UI) coverage for up to 13 weeks (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) and will be bolstered by up to $600 per week (FPUC) over current state maximums over the next four…

[Latest Stimulus Check Update for Seniors] While multiple rounds of stimulus payments have been made over the last two years, many are asking if the government will make another (4th round) of payments to help folks cope with higher inflation and the rising costs of basic goods and services. $900…

See the latest 2020 economic stimulus measures to tackle the economic fallout from the Coronavirus outbreak. [Updated Jan 2011] : No New Taxes with Tax Extensions Approved. President Obama has now signed into law a bill that covers a temporary extension of all the bush-era tax cuts. The new bill also contains…

Biden $15,000 Home Buyer Credit? President Biden’s housing agenda includes a proposal for a $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. This is similar to the home credit provided over 10 years ago under President Obama (details below). The difference is that this credit is to help American's deal with home affordability vs the original…

See this updated article for the latest program information on Food Stamp (SNAP) benefits and eligibility levels [Updated August 2011] The Federal Food Stamp Program is now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). With the stimulus aspects of this program set to expire at the end of this year following the debt…

President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal called the American Rescue Plan (ARP) has now been passed in Congress. It contains several provisions to help small business, local governments and low and middle class households. This includes additional economic impact payments (a.k.a stimulus checks) and a further extension of unemployment benefits. You can see…