A Dollar Spent Is A Dollar Wasted

Your check is almost in the mail, according to the IRS - and it's going to cost $42 million to let you know.

The money is being spent on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan - a much better solution than to hold a press conference or issue a release and let the free media take hold.

The notices are going out this month to an estimated 130 million households who filed returns for the 2006 tax year. That works out to about 32 cents to print, process and mail each letter. It doesn't include the tab for another round of mailings planned for those who didn't file tax returns last year but may still qualify for a rebate.

Democrats (and pretty much every other rational human should agree that) the administration was wasting time and postage. But the Director of the National Economic Council, said the letters are being sent to explain how the tax rebates will work.

"Any time you do something as a government tens of millions of times, there is ample room for people to get confused. And so if you're going to have tens of millions of taxpayers getting checks, you want to get the information out so that you have as few people as possible confused about what's happening, they understand what's coming, and it reduces the number of incoming requests that IRS and Treasury have to figure out how to deal with it."

Of course, you could always just have the information come with the check. Oops!

"Dear Taxpayer," the letters will begin, going on to say the IRS is pleased to inform the recipient that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law a plan that will provide payments of up to $600 for individuals who qualify or $1,200 for married couples filing jointly. The rebates are the centerpiece of a $168 billion economic stimulus package.

The actual rebate checks are scheduled to go out starting in May, after the IRS has finished separately mailing out routine refunds for the 2007 tax year. The letters will be a reminder that people need to file a 2007 tax return so they will receive the rebate if they are eligible for it - because this year's tax standing has everything to do with a rebate based on last year's standing. People who earn less than $3,000, illegal immigrants (duh!) and anyone who does not file a tax return will miss out. Singles with incomes exceeding $87,000 and couples with incomes exceeding $174,000 also won't qualify.