Are dividends and other unearned income counted as income for the purposes of calculating Adjusted Gross Income phase-out limits?
Yes. Dividends and other unearned income count towards the Adjusted Gross Income phase-out amounts for the rebate checks. Q: My wife and I are retired senior citizens filing jointly. We receive Social Security, but also receive unearned income from IRA distributions, which means we do pay Federal income taxes on this unearned income. Am I eligible to receive this rebate check, even if I did not have earned income in 2007, since I have to pay Federal income tax on my IRA distributions? A: YES – You should be eligible for the rebate check in this case. Taxpayers are eligible to receive the rebate check if they had either $3,000 in total income in 2007 OR net income tax liability. Again, as everyone’s tax situation is different, one can not accurately predict whether you will receive a rebate check, but it is possible in this situation.
