Another Notice Accompanies Stimulus Payment

Yours truly received his stimulus payment direct deposit on Friday (May 9), as scheduled. That day waiting for me in the mail was yet another notice from the IRS. After calming down from the near heart attack I get whenever I receive a letter addressed to me from the IRS, I began reading:

May 12, 2008

Dear Taxpayer:

Your Economic Stimulus Payment

You are entitled to an economic stimulus payment of $600.00 as provided by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. You can expect your payment by 5/9/08. If you do not receive it within six weeks of this notice, please contact us at the number shown above [1-866-234-2942….]

Aside from the curiosity of receiving a notice on May 9 that’s dated May 12, and unhelpfully receiving it after I received the deposit, it’s helpful in that it walks me through how they calculated that mine is $600, and answers some commonly asked questions. Too bad it’s on top of the $42 million spent for the other round of mailed notices that told me to be on the lookout for the stimulus check.

I’m keeping to myself what I’m doing with my stimulus check, but other people aren’t. And you could always support the Tax Foundation!

For questions on the policy implications of the stimulus plan, take a look at one of these Tax Foundation publications or blog posts:

Fiscal Stimulus: Missing the Big Picture?

The Distributional Effects of Fiscal Stimulus

Tax Foundation Comments on Proposed Stimulus Deal

Economic Benefits of Fiscal Stimulus Likely to Be Small

IRS Spending As Much on Publicizing and Processing Stimulus Rebate Checks as Was Spent on Super Bowl Ads: $200 Million

First Stimulus Payment Checks Mailed Today

Stimulus, Non-Payers, and Class Warfare

Stimulus Bill Turning into a Christmas Tree