Q: When do I get my economic stimulus payment (aka tax rebate)?

A: Some people may actually see their money as early as today. Here's the schedule, if you filed your federal tax return by the April 15 deadline and the IRS processed it by then. If you filed jointly, the Social Security number listed first will determine when you'll get your rebate. If you sign up for direct deposit on your tax return, find the last two digits of your Social Security number to determine when the tax rebate will be deposited into your account:
00 - 20, May 2
21 - 75, May 9
76 - 99, May 16

If you didn't sign up for direct deposit, expect a paper check in the mail during these dates, according to the last two digits of your Social Security number:
00 - 09, May 16
10 - 18, May 23
19 - 25, May 30
26 - 38, June 6
39 - 51, June 13
52 - 63, June 20
64 - 75, June 27
76 - 87, July 4
88 – 99, July 11

Q: Why did I get less than my friends and neighbors?

A: The economic stimulus payment is based on your 2007 income tax return. Most taxpayers qualify for the maximum payment of $600 for singles or $1,200 for married couples. Many parents also get $300 for each qualifying child, born after Dec. 31, 1990.

Here are some reasons the IRS may send you less than the maximum:

You are single and your net income tax liability is less than $600. (On Form 1040, your net income tax liability is Line 57, plus the amount on Line 52.) You are married and your net income tax liability is less than $1,200. You are single and your adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than $75,000. (On Form 1040, this is Line 37.) You are married filing a joint return and your AGI is more than $150,000. You owe back taxes. You have federal debts such as unpaid student loans or child-support obligations.

Q: I filed my return on time, but still haven't gotten my rebate. The schedule says I should have gotten it by now.

A. The IRS says the payment schedule (listed above) only applies if your return was received and the IRS finished processing your return before April 15. If you filed your return on time, but close to the April 15 deadline, the IRS may not have finished processing it before April 15. If you're expecting a regular tax refund, the IRS will send that to you first. The tax rebate will follow about a week or two later. If you're not expecting a regular tax refund, your stimulus payment should arrive a minimum of six weeks after you filed your return.

Q: I filed after April 15, and the payment date for my Social Security number has passed. When will I get my rebate?

A. A minimum of six weeks after you file your return.

Q: To which address is the rebate mailed?

A: The rebate will be sent to the last known address the IRS has on file, if you did not elect direct deposit.

Q: How do I know if I won't get a rebate?

A: You won't get a rebate in 2008 if any of the following apply: You don't file a 2007 tax return. Your net income tax liability is zero and your qualifying income is less than $3,000. To determine your qualifying income, add together your wages, net self-employment income, nontaxable combat pay, Social Security benefits, certain Railroad Retirement benefits and certain veterans' payments. You can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return (whether or not you actually are claimed as a dependent on someone else's return). This would include a child or student who can be claimed on a parent's return. You don't have a valid Social Security number. You are a nonresident alien. You file Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ, Form 1040PR or Form 1040SS for 2007.

Q. What happens if I provided the wrong direct deposit information on my return?

A. You can call to notify the IRS, but because of the timing of the refund, it may be difficult to stop the payment. If your rebate is returned by the bank, the IRS will send you a paper check.

Q: I used Direct Deposit to split my refund between several accounts when I filed my tax return. Where will the rebate be deposited?

A: If you split your refund between several accounts, you will not get your rebate by direct deposit. The IRS will send you a paper check.

Q: What happens to my rebate if I requested a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) from my preparer?

A: If you use RALs or enter into any other loan or financial agreement with your tax professional, you won't get your rebate direct deposited. The IRS will send you a paper check.

Rebate paper checks will be mailed to those who did not opt for an electronic transfer, beginning on May 9. The IRS will issue payments of up to 600 dollars (1,200 dollars for married couples), plus 300 for eligible children younger than 17.

The rebates are available to individuals who have income of less than 75,000 dollars a year, or 150,000 dollars for a couple. People who have no requirement to file a tax form must have at least 3,000 in qualifying income, such as earned income and pension benefits, and file the form to receive a rebate.

Rebate checks will continue to be mailed through mid-July. For those who did not file by the April 15 deadline, there may be a delay in receiving the rebates, the IRS said.

The stimulus plan is expected to cost 152 billion dollars this year.

Who is eligible?

More than 130 million taxpayers will receive a rebate. To qualify, you must have at least $3,000 in income to receive the minimum rebate of $300 for an individual or $600 for a couple filing jointly.

Income for this purpose includes wages, railroad retirement benefits and certain disability and survivor benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also includes Social Security retirement, survivor and disability benefits but not Supplemental Security Income or investment income.

The maximum rebate is $600 for an individual and $1,200 for a married couple filing jointly.

Parents eligible for a rebate will receive $300 for each qualifying child. The child must be under age 17 as of the end of last year and live with you for more than half the year.

Rebates begin to be reduced once adjusted gross income tops $75,000 for an individual and $150,000 for a couple. Your rebate is reduced by 5 cents for every $1 you make over those thresholds.

Tax return

You must file a 2007 tax return. The IRS will use this to determine eligibility and calculate the size of the rebate.

If you have filed your return, don't worry. You don't have to file again to get the rebate, as some fear, Stiff said.

About 20 million people aren't required to file a return because they earn too little. They still must file to obtain the rebate.

The IRS is encouraging veterans and Social Security beneficiaries who usually don't file returns to file a 1040A form and write on the top "Stimulus Payment."

If you need help filing a return, the IRS, AARP and community groups will be offering free assistance.

Low- to moderate-income households can receive free help at one of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs. To find the nearest location to you, call 800-906-9887. To find an AARP Tax-Aide site, call 888-227-7669.

Despite the outreach, many people might never learn about the rebate and not file a return, said William Massey, a senior tax analyst with Thomson Tax & Accounting.

Massey says he has called his aunts—ages 78 and 93—to let them know that he will prepare returns for them.

If you do discover too late that you should have filed a 2007 return to obtain the rebate, you can always do so next year and receive the money, Stiff said.

When does the money arrive?

A rebate won't be lumped together with your regular tax refund. You'll receive a separate payment.

Rebates likely will be disbursed based upon Social Security numbers or geographic area, Stiff said.

The earliest rebates will be received in the first week of May by those who used direct deposit when filing their 2007 returns. Even if you're not due a refund for 2007, you can make sure the rebate is directly deposited into your account by filling out the bank routing information on your return.

Those who don't use direct deposit will start receiving paper checks the second week of May.

The IRS plans to set up a system where you can check online to find out when you'll receive your rebate, similar to how you can now track your refund online.

If you moved since filing your 2007 tax return, make sure you send the IRS a change-of-address form so you receive your rebate, Massey said.

Who won't get a rebate?

You won't receive money if you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return.

Casinos will be required to report winnings of $5,000 or more to the Internal Revenue Service, and will hand gamblers a tax form to record the payout.

It's actually a compromise from an original IRS proposal that would have made casinos withhold 25 percent of tournament winnings for tax purposes.

“There was such an outrage and outcry from the community, to suck all that money out” that the government changed its mind, Marissa Chien, a gambling tax expert in Las Vegas, told The Press of Atlantic City for Monday's newspapers.

“It allows the IRS to keep track of poker players, because poker is real big now,” said Chien, who is co-author of the book “Tax Help For Gamblers.”

Kevin Lillo, a shift manager at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, said the new rule will be little more than “a slight inconvenience.”

“It's always been the law” to report winnings, he said. “All they're doing is making the casino enforce it. They're seeing money that's falling through the cracks.”

Bruce Kramer of Voorhees has never won $5,000 in a single tournament, but he could see how it would be a problem for serious players.

Gamblers across the country are already required to report all their winnings, whether it's from tournaments, slot machines or table games.

“If you're already reporting your income and being truthful and honest, this shouldn't affect you one bit,” Chien said. “But for those who try to stay off the radar, this is going to make it that much harder.”

American International Group Inc., the largest insurer in the U.S., lost more than $5 billion in the fourth quarter as bad credit ate into its investments, the company said Thursday.

AIG has been thrust to the forefront of the credit crisis gripping financial markets by contracts known as credit default swaps.

These swaps pledge to cover missed payments on $579 billion in debt. AIG's swap portfolio lost $11.12 billion in value during the fourth quarter because decaying credit quality means the insured debt is less likely to be repaid.

AIG also lost more than $3 billion in its investment portfolio because of "significant, rapid declines" in the value of mortgage debt.

AIG lost $5.29 billion, or $2.08 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with profit of $3.44 billion, or $1.31 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006.

For all of 2007, AIG earned $6.2 billion, or $2.39 per share, compared with $14.05 billion, or $5.36 per share, in 2006.

"AIG's results in 2007 were clearly unsatisfactory," AIG's chief executive, Martin J. Sullivan, said in a statement. "This was a challenging year in which the deterioration of both the U.S. residential mortgage and credit markets significantly affected several of our operations and investments."

Donn Vickrey, an analyst with Gradient Analytics, said AIG's management is under pressure to demonstrate it grasps the risks the company has taken.

The deterioration in the value of the swaps is more than double an estimate the company made just two weeks ago. At the end of the third quarter, AIG thought the portfolio of swaps had lost $352 million in value.

"They definitely seem to be right in the cross-hairs," Vickrey said. "They're insuring a lot of the risks that are rapidly becoming problematic."

AIG claims the losses on the portfolio swaps are only on paper because the debt the swaps protect is still stellar — just the market value of the contracts has fallen. As long as the insured debt does not go into default, the losses on the swaps will reverse over time, the company said.

The company's general insurance division posted a 22 percent decline in income to $2.02 billion. The division's mortgage insurance business, United Guaranty, posted a steep loss because flagging home prices have squashed the incentive and means for borrowers to repay home loans.

The life insurance division posted a 51 percent drop in profit, to $1.29 billion, because of bad investments.

The lawsuit against the agency was filed by Virginia Delegate Robert G. Marshall, who was joined by the National Taxpayers Union and Loudoun County. They say the NVTA has no legal right to levy the taxes that it started collecting Jan. 1. The $326 million a year in new taxes the NVTA seeks to raise would be imposed on motorists, property sellers and hotel guests.