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Jan 24, 2008 5:54 pm US/Central
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Reality Check: Why Could We Get Tax Breaks?
(WCCO)
Soon, we're going to have a little extra money in our wallets.
A plan to boost the economy is coming together after lawmakers struck a deal with the White House to give most taxpayers refunds.
Here's how it breaks down.
Individuals whose income is $75,000 or less would get up to $600.
Working couples with an income of $150,000 or less would get up to $1,200.
People with children would also get an additional $300 per child.
One of the more controversial parts of the tax rebate plan sends money to people who don't pay income taxes.
Here's a Reality Check:
The United States has a progressive income tax system.
No surprise -- the more you make, the more you pay.
It's TRUE.
The top 10 percent of wage earners in America, families making more than $339,000, pay 72 percent of all the income taxes.
The bottom 20 percent of earners, families making less than $16,000, pay little or no income taxes.
However, low income families could be a key to economic recovery.
HERE'S WHY.
Studies show that low income families strapped for cash are much more likely to spend a cash rebate immediately, which is what the economic stimulus package is supposed to accomplish.
Even if it costs the government billions of dollars.
IN FACT...
Without an economic stimulus package, some economists predict the US could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in lost tax revenues.
More than it will cost to send out the rebates.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)