Posted on 07/15/2007 4:38:51 PM PDT by Montana Headlines
During its May special session, the Montana Legislature approved a one-time tax rebate of $400 for Montana homeowners proposed by Gov. Brian Schweitzer.
Great. Everyone likes money. But unlike the famous Bush administration rebate of 2001, this rebate is not an automatic process, which raises the question: How do I get paid?
The reason the process is not so simple is the manner in which Montana property taxes are collected. The law specifies that only primary residences in which the owner lived for at least seven months during 2006 are eligible for the rebate, and according to Montana Department of Revenue (DOR) Director Dan Bucks, the state has no way of distinguishing a primary residence from a vacation home by looking at property tax returns.
So homeowners will have to apply for the rebate between “the end of August” and Dec. 31. The DOR plans to send out approximately 300,000 applications, and is assuming about 250,000 households actually qualify for the rebate and will apply. Applications will also be available at libraries and courthouses and online at http://mt.gov/revenue in late August.
...........
Another fun rebate fact worth knowing is that those who filed itemized tax returns for 2006 will have to count the rebate as taxable income on their 2007 returns, while people who filed with a standard deduction will not.
According to H & R Block District Tax Specialist Nancy Eik, that’s because itemized returns allow for larger deductions, so “you already got a deduction for the $400 last year.”
The upshot is that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer pushed through a plan to give a $400 property tax credit to every Montana homeowner.
Republicans wanted an across-the-board cut in property tax rates, but were out-gunned by the governor and the Democrat-controlled state Senate.
Montana Headlines has referred to this as the Democrat's election-year "check in every pot" plan.
The process for getting the credit is complicated, and now we further learn that those who itemize deductions will have to declare the $400 as income, while those who take a standard deduction on their income tax return won't have to declare it as income.
Adding insult to injury... This is part of how a $1 billion surplus has been blown by the Democratic party in our state.
FReepmail to be added to or removed from the Montana Headlines pinglist.
They tried.
Republicans were actually willing to give it to them in exchange for some across-the-board property tax cuts — with a $1 billion surplus, there was plenty of money to do it.
But the Dems didn’t want across-the-board tax relief.
And the final deal would have required to make most of the Dems’ spending increases sunset after two years rather than be permanent spending increases.
So the Dems axed the whole idea.
” This is part of how a $1 billion surplus has been blown by the Democratic party in our state”
And YOU live in a state that is not clueless : )
How to make the state paygive back
GREAT, I fixed another one!
You might be surprised.
GREAT, I fixed another one!
Indeed.
One of the leading possibilities for challenging Schweitzer for governor in 2008 is Steve Daines, who started GiveItBack.com during the last legislative session.
The Montana Dems certainly see Daines and his message as a threat, since shortly after the final deal was cut (i.e. they got some GOP representatives to cave,) the announcement was made with a big sign saying "We Gave It Back" behind the governor.
Right.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.