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| Special stimulus payment details for recipients of Social Security, veterans benefits | |
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE – NORTH TEXAS REGION For Immediate Release (972) 308-7252
“Leave no man behind” is a proud military tenet. It has a sacred meaning on the battlefield for the men and women of our armed forces. But it also has application in everyday life. Hundreds of thousands of veterans and their survivors are at risk of being left behind when it comes to the Economic Stimulus Payments that will be paid this summer.
Congress passed, and the President signed into law, a provision to pay so-called “rebates” to Americans who file tax returns. In so doing, they also extended the payments to include veterans and Social Security recipients who ordinarily do not have to even file a tax return. The minimum payment for those who qualify is $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples filing a joint income tax return.
The payments will be calculated by the IRS based on tax returns filed now through the end of 2008 reporting income received and taxes due for the 2007 tax year. But since some veterans and their survivors don’t make enough income to have to file a tax form there is great concern that they might miss the opportunity to receive money coming to them.
This year, veterans who do not otherwise have to file anything with the IRS will want to send in a tax form in order to receive a stimulus payment, according to the Internal Revenue Service. This applies to veterans and their survivors who receive certain pension and disability payments which are not taxable.
Veterans who have income other than veteran’s benefits and are required to file a tax return and pay taxes for 2007 have nothing more to do. They will automatically receive their economic stimulus payments after they file their tax forms, beginning this summer. This would include people who receive non-taxable pension or disability payments from the VA, but who also work and earn enough to have to file and pay taxes.
But veterans who receive VA pension or disability payments, sometimes in combination with Social Security or Railroad Retirement Tier I payments (generally none of which are taxable) will need to file an abbreviated tax form this year so the IRS can send them the stimulus payment they are entitled to receive.
Here is how it works.
Those who have no tax liability and are not required to file a tax return may qualify for a minimum payment of $300 ($600 if filing a joint return) if they send the IRS a simple tax return that reflects $3,000 or more in qualifying income. For the purpose of the stimulus payments, qualifying income includes veterans’ disability compensation, and pension or survivors’ benefits received from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2007. Specifically, compensation or pension received under chapter 11, chapter 13, or chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code will qualify.
The compensation under those code sections includes:
Also included are those who receive a disability pension which is monthly need-based payments to certain wartime veterans who suffer from permanent and total, non-service-connected disability, or who are age 65 and older. Death pension payments are the final category which are monthly need-based payments to surviving spouses, or, if no qualified surviving spouse, children, of certain wartime veterans.
Here is what to do.
Those who are not required to file a 2007 return but whose total qualifying income (including earned income, Social Security, certain Railroad Retirement and any of the veterans’ benefits stated above) would equal or exceed $3,000, should file a simple tax return reporting the income and benefits to establish eligibility. You can use a Form 1040A and report the total of your benefits on Line 14a, or you can use a Form 1040 and report the total of your benefits on Line 20a. Please note that both of these lines refer only to Social Security, but you should enter the total of all your benefits received there, whether your only benefits were veterans’ benefits, or a combination of any of the three (Social Security, Railroad Retirement, or veterans’). If you have any earned income, it is reported on a separate line, Line 7, of either form.
Your name, Social Security number and signature (those entries for both you and your spouse if filing jointly), as well as your address, filing status and whether or not you’d like to receive your payment via Direct Deposit, are the only other items needed on the tax return. No other lines need be filled in. A sample 1040A showing the minimal information needed can be viewed on the IRS Website at irs.gov and used as a model for completing the form.
The IRS emphasized that people with no filing requirement who turn in a tax return to qualify for the economic stimulus payment will not get a tax bill. People in this category will not owe money because of the stimulus payment. The stimulus payments are not taxable.
More information on these economic stimulus payments is available on www.IRS.gov. Just click on “Rebate questions” link. IRS wants to make sure that no one who is qualified for a payment gets left behind. |
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| HOOPER VETERANS MEMORIAL COMMITTEE | |
ATTENION: Hooper, Utah is currently in the planning stage of having a second memorial monument to honor all of our community’s U.S. Military men & women including reservists. We need your help. If all the following are all correct We need your full name including initials to be placed on the monument list. Family members are also welcome to call in for their deceased military family members. We now have a list of over eight hundred names. You or your family members may already be on that list. If you think you could already be on our list or need to be put on it, we would appreciate a phone call to verify your name and proper spelling. We would also like to know where you served. Please call Mrs. Wilson at 801-732-2123 or email at vernwheatley@yahoo.com |
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United Way and other community organizations and agencies are handing There have been reports of miss information appearing on the Military
A much needed and valuable van service for local veterans is in jeopardy
The service, operated, and supported, by the Disabled American Veterans, "This service is so important, and it would be a crying The DAV, Department t of Utah and St. George Local, Dixie, The DAV is making an urgent appeal to those interested in If you can volunteer to maintain this needed service, please |
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| Purchase These Pins to Show Support for Veterans | |
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The price is $5 per pin plus $.75 for mailing. Checks for $5.75 can be made out to "Utah Division of Veterans Affairs" and mailed to: Utah Division of Veterans Affairs 550 Foothill Dr. #202 Salt Lake City, UT 84113 |
Attention Iwo Jima veterans Free portrait by Utah artist Internet discount for veterans XMission Phone (Salt Lake metro): 801-539-0852 |TOP| VA Expands POW Benefits "This is an issue that has been studied and debated too long," Principi said. "We have scientific studies supporting the association of these illnesses to the military service of our former POWs." The secretary, who oversees the operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), announced the new benefits in a speech tonight at a national convention of the American Ex-Prisoners of War. The Administration's decision benefits former POWs with strokes and most heart diseases. Those veterans will be automatically eligible for disability compensation for those common ailments, and their spouses and dependents will be eligible for service-connected survivors' benefits if these diseases contribute to the death of a former POW. In September 2003, Principi launched a nationwide outreach effort to identify and provide benefits to the estimated 11,000 former POWs who were not receiving VA disability compensation or other services. There are about 35,000 living ex-POWs. The secretary also has urged Congress to change federal law that required that former POWs must be detained for at least 30 days to qualify for the full range of POW benefits. The Administration's new decision will add to the list of 16 medical problems that VA presumes to be linked to the military service of former POWs. The new rules are likely to take effect on October 7, 2004. |TOP| VA Warns of Telephone Prescription Scam "Some unscrupulous scammers have targeted America's veterans, especially our older veterans," said the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. "VA does not call veterans and ask them to disclose personal financial information over the phone." The latest scam, currently centered in the Midwest, comes from callers who identify themselves as working for the "Patient Care Group." They say VA recently changed procedures for dispensing prescriptions and ask for the veteran's credit card number. "VA has not changed its processes for dispensing prescription medicines," Nicholson said. "And we've definitely not changed our long-standing commitment to protect the personal information of our veterans." Veterans with questions about VA services should contact the nearest VA medical center or call, toll-free, 1-877-222-8387. Susan Huff, Public Affairs Officer |TOP| Deployed students get break on loans Reservists deployed on military operations will get temporary reprieve from student loans under a law signed August 29th by President Bush. The Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 also urges colleges and universities to fully refund tuition and fees for students called up to serve in the military. The law allows the Department of Education to give temporary waivers on loan repayment for students and graduates called to active duty in time of war or national emergency. Others qualifying for the break include those who reside in a federal or state disaster area or suffer financial hardship due to a war, military operation or national emergency. The law hopes to ensure that those individuals "are not put in a worse financial situation" by virtue of their military service, said Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. Ordinarily, recipients of student loans must begin repayments soon after leaving school. - Vince Crawley
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