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CNMI to receive $15M stimulus package next month
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Posted on Apr 20 2008
The Department of Finance expects to receive the CNMI’s portion of the federal economic stimulus package next month.
Finance Secretary Eloy S. Inos told a legislative committee on Friday that the local government had reached an agreement with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service on the release of the funds.
CNMI taxpayers will collectively receive about $15 million in tax rebates.
Inos said the IRS is expected to transfer the money to the CNMI in mid-May 2008. He said the Finance Department will start processing the checks soon after it receives the money from the U.S. government.
It is not clear if both resident and nonresident taxpayers are eligible for the tax rebates. But it was learned that some local taxpayers had received letters from the IRS stating that they would receive tax rebates.
Under the law, tax rebates of $600 per individual, $1,200 per couple, and $300 per child, are to be provided to taxpayers. The bill 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 law includes the provision for federal coverage of the tax rebates for qualifying taxpayers and families in the territories. It protects the local treasury from any loss that would otherwise be incurred for payout of the tax rebates mandated by the relief measure.
The legislation also calls for tax cuts for small businesses. The bipartisan plan doubles the amount small businesses can immediately write off their taxes for capital investments.
