Stimulus checks out Friday

The Department of Finance will start releasing economic stimulus payments this Friday, Secretary Eloy S. Inos announced yesterday.

A first batch of approximately 11,000 rebate checks will be mailed out. This figure represents nearly half of the 23,000 income tax returns filed for 2007. The Finance Department will continue processing returns and issuing checks through December 2008.

He said the checks will be released in no particular order—not by name, by social security number, or by the date the income tax return was filed. The 10,000 checks expected for release this Friday are for taxpayers who have filed returns properly and who have been found eligible for the economic stimulus payments.

“We are not looking at who [filed the return]. Any return that went into the system and passed would go right into check writing,” Inos said.

The Finance Department is working to iron out problems seen in the remaining returns. “This is going to be a continuing process. We are working in the fastest way possible,” said Inos.

The rebates range up to $600 for an individual and $1,200 for a couple. Families with children will get $300 per child. The law guarantees workers who earned at least $3,000 in 2007 will receive at least a $300 tax rebate.

The rebates would phase out gradually for single taxpayers whose adjusted gross incomes exceeds $75,000 and for couples with incomes over $150,000.

The rebates were the centerpiece of the U.S. government’s $168 billion economic stimulus package enacted in February and are designed to bolster consumer spending and stir the sluggish economy.

Inos said he has only one request for taxpayers receiving the stimulus checks: “I hope they spend it in the local economy—pay their CUC bills, buy essential stuff in the stores.”

It seems Inos did not need to make the plea. With the recent doubling of power rates, many local residents say they are counting on rebate checks to help pay their utility bills.

Dexter Macaranas, a records assistant at the courts, said he is setting $200 aside for his bills. He also plans to buy new shoes and clothes—“something for myself”—with $100. The rest, he will deposit in his savings account.

Sol Dayao, an accountant, said she will use the money for her children’s school fees. Both her sons attend private schools. Registration for the next school year opens in August.