How to Get the 2009 Economic Stimulus (Recovery) Payment

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By howsitdone
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If you’re wondering how to apply for the 2009 Economic Recovery Payment promised by President Obama, this article will clear that up for you.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Not much work, but you'll need some patience.

Step 1

Keep doing what you're doing: Unlike the 2008 Stimulus Payment, you won’t have to take any specific action to receive the 2009 payment. That’s right: you don’t need to do anything right now to apply for the payment. It’s all automatic. The bad news: For most people, the 2009 and 2010 payments won’t come in a lump sum, and they will be smaller than your 2008 payment was.

Rather than a simple formula based on number of household dependents, the type and size of the new stimulus payment will be based on whether you are a wage-earner, unemployed, or a retired person.
Step 2

RETIRE: People who are retired on Social Security, Railroad Retirement, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or a Veteran’s pension will receive a single $250 lump sum through their pension plan, no later than the end of May, 2009. Although there aren’t any firm plans in place yet for exactly when the payments will be issued, retirees will receive the payment the same way they receive their monthly pension payments (direct deposit or check), paid by your pension payor.
Step 3

GO TO WORK: Wage-earners will receive their payment a small amount at a time on their paychecks. New withholding tables have already been distributed by IRS to accomplish this task without the employee needing to fill out any paperwork.

According to the IRS: “For 2009 and 2010, the Making Work Pay provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will provide a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for working individuals and $800 for married taxpayers filing joint returns.
This tax credit will be calculated at a rate of 6.2% of earned income and will phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $75,000, or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.”

The remainder of the stimulus payment (up to $400/single, $800 married filing jointly) can be claimed as a tax credit on your 2009 tax return, filed in 2010, if you do not receive the full amount in your paycheck.
Step 4

CAN'T FIND A JOB? President Obama also included in the Economic Recovery bill a provision that will provide an extra $25 per week to people drawing unemployment benefits and will make the first $2,400 of the unemployment benefits tax-free. The new amount will be computed effective the week of February 23, 2009, but most states will not be able to include the additional $25 in your unemployment check until as late as May. Therefore, all recipients of unemployment will receive a lump sum payment for back pay at the rate of $25 per week, once that state’s employment division has made the changes in its computer systems. After that, the $25 per week will be included in your weekly unemployment checks.