Would Social Security Income qualify to receive the tax stimulus rebate?

chrisk · #1 (**permalink**) 06-03-2008, 10:27 AM

Would my mother's supplemental security income (SSI) qualify as Social Security benefits for the purpose of receiving the Stimulus Tax Rebate?

I am just wondering how to go about claiming the tax rebate for her. Any advise on this subject would be highly appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

TaxGuru · #2 (**permalink**) 06-04-2008, 10:22 AM

Unfortunately, the IRS has specifically stated that supplemental security income (SSI) payments are not considered Social Security benefits and thus would not qualify as qualified income, for the purposes of receiving the Stimulus Tax Rebate.

The reason being that the SSI is not taxable, and so it is not reported to you on Form SSA-1099. The IRS has stated that "Only the amount shown in Box 5 of Form SSA-1099 will be considered to qualify as Social Security benefits for purposes of the Economic Stimulus Payments."

Regretably, based on the existing IRS Tax rules, you would not be eligible to claim the tax rebate solely on the SSI income, there has to be another source of qualified income.