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The most commonly asked question over the last couple of weeks about the economic stimulus bill is "Will this be taken away from next year's tax refund?" This was aided by a goof over at CNN.com, when CNN had a story up telling people that it indeed would come out of their refunds next year and that most of the rebate would be deducted within 12 months time. Obviously Americans didn't want to hear this, and quite frankly if that would have been the case, it would have basically been a loan. In the end though, it turns out that this is indeed a tax rebate and you will not have to pay the rebate check amount back to the government.

Admittedly, the specifics of this economic stimulus bill are a little strange. The confusing part is that the tax rebate is indeed an "advance", but its on a new credit, so you won't have to pay that money back. Understandably, as soon as most people here the word advance, they believe this is no rebate, but in this case it truly is.

This tax rebate will have no effect whatsoever on your 2007 tax returns. The rebate is also not taxable, so you won't have to report the tax rebate check on your taxes for 2008 next year. In order to be on the list to receive your tax rebate you need to make sure you file your 2007 taxes.

There was definitely plenty of confusion surrounding the whole tax prebate vs. tax rebate vs. tax advance, but in the end it appears that Washington did indeed draft a bill that is fair to the American citizens. Whether this will help our economy in both the short and long run is yet to be determined, but the checks are going out in the mail in May, and you'll get to keep the cash.