The stimulus payment is NOT a 'gift' - it's more or less a refund of taxes you have paid in. You got the greater of the $600 per person, etc OR what you actually paid in.
It's not 'free money' - it's a refund.
If you buy something on sale at a store for $100 and then take it back, you get $100 REFUND back - you don't get $200 back because the price went up in the meantime....same concept here. If you buy a product that has a rebate offer on it, the rebate is not going to be more than the price you paid to begin with...
There was a MAXIMUM amount set, but if you didn't pay in that much to begin with, they didn't give you more than you actually paid in.
So, since we pay a ton of taxes, we got the full amount. My friend who had negative income in 2007 (failed business, unemployed husband and wife, living off credit cards and family gifts) got nothing back - she didn't pay in anything, so therefore no rebate of taxes paid. While I know she could use the money, if you didn't pay in you didn't get a rebate.
It's not 'free money' - it's a refund.
If you buy something on sale at a store for $100 and then take it back, you get $100 REFUND back - you don't get $200 back because the price went up in the meantime....same concept here. If you buy a product that has a rebate offer on it, the rebate is not going to be more than the price you paid to begin with...
There was a MAXIMUM amount set, but if you didn't pay in that much to begin with, they didn't give you more than you actually paid in.
So, since we pay a ton of taxes, we got the full amount. My friend who had negative income in 2007 (failed business, unemployed husband and wife, living off credit cards and family gifts) got nothing back - she didn't pay in anything, so therefore no rebate of taxes paid. While I know she could use the money, if you didn't pay in you didn't get a rebate.