What a difference a rebate makes

By early July, the IRS had received more than 145 million tax returns. At that same point last year, 131 million folks had filed. That filing increase of almost 12 percent is no doubt almost totally attributable to the economic stimulus payment. The only way to get a rebate this year is to file a 2007 return. And the numbers will continue to climb as the Oct. 15 extended filing deadline nears. By the numbers: Unfortunately, the IRS wasn't able to provide dollar amounts in connection with returns processed by the week ending July 5 (Excel format) due to "technical problems with the reporting system." The agency could tell, however, that e-filings were way up over last year. By early July 2007, almost 78 million returns were submitted electronically. This year, e-filed forms exceeded 87 million. Taxpayers using their home... [read full story]