Rebate excludes many taxpayers with foreign spouses

[redirish28]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080511/ap_on_bi_ge/tax_rebates_left_out


SAN FRANCISCO - When Maulit Shelat heard about the Bush administration's plan to pump up the economy by sending out stimulus checks, he sat down with his wife and drew up a list of priorities: first up, remodeling the bathroom.



But Shelat is married to a foreigner who still hasn't completed the often years-long process that allows her to apply for a Social Security number. Her not having that number makes even him ineligible for the tax rebate checks that started going out last week because they filed jointly


When lawmakers decided to send out the checks, ranging from $300 to $600 per adult taxpayer, plus another $300 for each child, they formulated it so only taxpayers who have Social Security numbers would qualify.

The rule unintentionally caught many taxpayers who would have qualified for the bonus, except they filed jointly with a spouse who's immigration status doesn't allow them to have a Social Security number. Among them are some of the 288,000 troops stationed overseas who may have married a foreigner.
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>>SNIP>>>

Between this little rule... and the fact that more people my wife and I know have been getting audited this year makes one wonder IF they truely ment to stimulate the economy.