The tax rebates -- which President Bush hopes will shock the economy back to life -- start to hit direct deposit accounts today. More than 130 million American households will get money. The
Economic Stimulus Payment Calculator can help you estimate the amount of your rebate.
The Los Angeles Times says retailers will do everything they can to get people to spend their rebate checks:
"They're going to ramp up their efforts," said Mike Gatti,
executive director of the
Retail Advertising and Marketing Association. "You're going to see special promotions and sales, maybe
invitation-only events."
Some companies that have never run ads linked to tax season will do so
this year. Home Depot Inc. will play the green card, urging shoppers to
spend rebate checks on energy efficient products such as light bulbs.
The Cub Foods grocery store chain has an idea to lure people to spend their rebates. Cub will redeem rebates for store gift cards and add $30 for each $300 redeemed. So a $600 rebate will buy $660 in groceries. (
See this story from Minnesota Public Radio.)
The Cub Foods promotion parallels new concerns about rising food prices.
What will people do with the money?CNN says:
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found that 41 percent of respondents plan to
use their rebates to pay off bills, and 32 percent will put the money in
savings. Just 21 percent of those polled intend to spend the money, while 3 percent
said they will donate the extra money to charity.
AP reports:
Sixty percent of the public say they are now less comfortable about
making a big-ticket financial commitment, such as buying a home or a
car, than they were just six months ago, underscoring their more
circumspect behavior, according to the RBC Cash poll conducted by
Ipsos, an international polling firm, in early April. A year ago, 48 percent
said they were less comfortable about making a major purchase.
ScamsThere is no doubt that the infusion of money will lure scammers. The IRS warns:
Be aware that identity thieves are already pushing scams involving the
stimulus payments. At least one telephone scam is making the
rounds using the proposed rebates as bait. News release
IR-2008-11, IRS Warns of New E-Mail and Telephone Scams Using the IRS Name; Advance Payment Scams Starting, has more details.
There's more information at the IRS's
Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center.
about how the retail checks will affect tourism and retail...
