UNITED STATES STIMULUS CHECKS

[OnMyWay]

9 hours ago, baronapart said:

Check into the tax break you get for selling your primary residence if it applies to you:

• You can sell your primary residence exempt of capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 if you are single and $500,000 if married.
• This exemption is only allowable once every two years.
• You can add your cost basis and costs of any improvements you made to the home to the $250,000 if single or $500,000 if married.

This saved my bacon (and a lot of money) when I got divorced in 2006.

Unfortunately, I left out a key word.  "Rental'.  I only lived in it for 2 years then rented it for 15 years.  You have to live in it for 2 of the last 5 years to get the exemption.  

[OnMyWay]

28 minutes ago, hk blues said:

That would make a huge difference - $2200 tax credit would be worth $2200, $2200 reduction in taxable income would be a lot less I'd imagine.

The stimulus payments would never be taxable.  They are a return of taxpayer money (or borrowed money) and if they were taxed, that would be double taxation at it's finest, and certainly not in the spirit of a "relief payment".

My situation is unique because I could not get the first stimulus because my wife does not have an SSN and we filed taxes together.  This bill amends that and says I can get the payment, but not my wife.  My two US citizen kids can get it too.  It is retroactive, that is why it is easier for them to give it as a credit on 2020 taxes, in early 2021.

in the U.S., there are two basic types of tax credits:  Refundable and Non-refundable.  For non-refundable, you have to own taxes to get the credit.  For refundable, you don't need to owe any taxes and you will still get a refund for the credit amount.  For instance, I get a non-refundable child tax credit for my two kids, 2000 each, total 4000.  I have to owe at least 4000 taxes to get the full credit.  If I owe only 3000, I will only get a 3000 credit.  If I owe no taxes, I don't get any credit.  So I have to manage my income and taxes owed so that I owe just over 4000 taxes when the year is done.

The stimulus payment, if done on the taxes, is fully refundable.  Some people who don't even need to file a tax return would file one, just to get the stimulus, as a refund.

[Dave Hounddriver]

41 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

The stimulus payments would never be taxable.

You are lucky.  In Canada some of them are and some aren't.  The big ones are considered a replacement for lost earnings so they are taxable.  The small payments are tax free.  Loads of different kinds of stimulus payments here but only for residents.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

You are lucky.  In Canada some of them are and some aren't.  The big ones are considered a replacement for lost earnings so they are taxable.  The small payments are tax free.  Loads of different kinds of stimulus payments here but only for residents.

I only know about the stimulus payments to citizens.  There may be other parts of the stimulus for business's, etc., that have tax consequences.

[OnMyWay]

23 hours ago, Shady said:

President Don being one of those Americans, the rare politician who actually puts Americans first, that's why he killed this joke of a plan.

It actually looks promising that the bill will be amended to include a higher payment to citizens, if, and that is a big if, they can also cut some of the pork out.

I think citizens from both sides are looking at this as a real stinker.  People who pay attention are wondering why government has to function like this????

[Shady]

6 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

It actually looks promising that the bill will be amended to include a higher payment to citizens, if, and that is a big if, they can also cut some of the pork out.

No need to amend it, just replace it with a new bill that gives $2000 to Americans and zero foreign aid. America first is a simple concept that half the nation agrees with, but half doesn't, and the nation's fate depends on who wins that war.

[scott h]

4 hours ago, Shady said:

No need to amend it, just replace it with a new bill that gives $2000 to Americans and zero foreign aid.

This is why they have been fighting for a line item veto for years, but congress does not want to give up their license to spend 

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, scott h said:

This is why they have been fighting for a line item veto for years, but congress does not want to give up their license to spend 

And they refuse to have term limits. Congressmen and senators were supposed to be elected for short terms and share their expertise and experience to promote government.

For how many decades (centuries?), they seem to just be self-serving and continue to be re-elected for their own power trips, not for the good of the people or government in general. 

[scott h]

5 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

And they refuse to have term limits.

Gonna have to take the other side of this one Tommy...IMHO we have term limits, Elections. If the populace is stupid enough to continue voting for them, whelp, we get the government we deserve I suppose. 

 

[Tommy T.]

5 minutes ago, scott h said:

Gonna have to take the other side of this one Tommy...IMHO we have term limits, Elections. If the populace is stupid enough to continue voting for them, whelp, we get the government we deserve I suppose. 

 

Yeah... Scott... that is the most valid point, indeed. We get what we deserve...you are right. I guess I would just like to see mandated term limits so that others get the chance to run. So many are career politicians now and some states and politicians carry so much power, just because they have been in office forever... 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Tommy T.