My last two social security digits are 53. So, according to the payment schedule, I was supposed to receive the stimulus payment this morning. Although, with all of the comments on this site from people who didn’t receive it last Friday, I was not counting on anything. So, I logged into my checking account this morning, and to my surprise, there was a direct deposit from the U.S department of the Treasury. I thought, “wow, I was one of the lucky ones to get my payment as advertised.”

However, there is more to the story. I looked at the amount that was deposited and it was $600.00. I thought to myself, “I’ve researched this stimulus payment thing since day one, and I know that we were supposed to receive $1,200.” My wife and I filed jointly on our 1040 return. She is a student, and I brought in most of the income for 2007, but according to all of the literature that the IRS gave out, if you filed jointly and you made between a certain amount of money for 2007, you’ll receive the $1,200 as long as you “filed jointly” on your return. I’m thoroughly confused now. I’m definitely not complaining, because at least I received something and it was on time. However, the $1,200 that we were entitled to would have been nice.

This is where it gets really funny. I go on the IRS website and I answer all of the detailed questions on their payment calculator form, and even that says that I should receive $1,200. I call the IRS toll-free number, which is 1-800-829-1040 or 1-866-239-2942, and a recording says to me, “We’re sorry, due to unusually high call volume, we cannot take your call at this time”. Seriously? Only the IRS will hang up on you when they get busy.

My wife’s last two digits are 47, so if $600 was coming separately, they both would have been scheduled for today. The only other thing that I can think of is that I put on our return that she is a full-time student. So maybe you can only receive the $1,200 if both spouses contributed to the household income, but that is not how I understood the information when it first came out. Oh well, I’ll keep you all updated on what happens. But, don’t bother trying to get a hold of the IRS for questions right now. I would wait to the middle of next week when call volumes will be lower.

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