Last year's stimulus checks were tax free

Posted by Caitlin on February 9th, 2009

If you received a stimulus check from the government last year, you do not need to pay taxes on that check this tax season. You do have to acknowledge receiving a stimulus check, for bookkeeping purposes, but you should not calculate your check as income.

About 15% of those who have already filed their 2008 returns have made the mistake of declaring their stimulus check as income, which has resulted in these taxpayers receiving smaller refunds or making higher tax payments than they should have.

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