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Kokua Line
June Watanabe
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Call tax center or go online for status of stimulus check
Question:
We didn't get our economic stimulus check yet, and I am at the bottom of the list of Social Security numbers. As I understood the conditions, everybody in the low-income bracket was to get one. My wife and I are retired and file a joint tax return, but our income is so low, we end up paying no income taxes. Contact with the Internal Revenue Service is automated and impossible to get a straight answer, and we would like to talk to a live person. What do we have to do to get our check, or a reason why not?
Answer: If it has been more than eight weeks since you filed your return and you believe you qualify for an economic stimulus payment, you're advised to contact your local Taxpayer Assistance Center either by going in person or calling.
Offices in Hawaii: Honolulu, 300 Ala Moana Blvd., phone 539-2099; Hilo, 101 Aupuni St., phone 933-6973; and Maui, 2050 Main St., Wailuku, phone 242-6450.
The offices are open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The Hilo and Wailuku offices are closed for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
If you're calling, you will hear a recorded message with information about hours, locations and services. You may leave a message at the end of the recording to ask for a call back.
Callers can expect a return call usually within two business days, according to IRS spokeswoman Judy Monahan. You should leave your phone number and the best time you can be reached, she said.
Monahan also pointed us to the IRS Web site -- irs.gov -- where there are instructions for finding out the status of your economic stimulus payment. Click on "When Will You Get Your Stimulus Payment?" and then click "Where's My Stimulus Payment?"
Information about a specific payment will not be available until about one week before the payment is scheduled to be sent. To get the information, be ready to enter your Social Security number, filing status and the number of exemptions shown on your 2007 return.
Taxpayers who haven't yet filed a tax return have until Oct. 15 to be eligible to receive a payment. The IRS says it has issued payments for most returns filed by April 15 and will continue to issue payments through 2008 for returns filed after that date.
Auwe
To the lady in the big long white truck, who missed me by a foot last Tuesday morning while I was in the middle of a crosswalk at Maile Way and East-West Road on the University of Hawaii campus! You were so close I could have kicked your truck. Didn't you learn to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks? Or does a big truck make you invincible? You didn't even stop at the three-way stop. -- In the Crosswalk
Mahalo
To officer Dan Manzano of the Pearl City Police Station, who helped me when my car was disabled by a blowout on Moanalua Road near the H-1 freeway. You volunteered to help me jack up the car and change the tire. You ended up doing the whole thing yourself, efficiently, effectively and in record time. You saved my old back many an ache and left me with a very positive impression of HPD. -- S.B. Schneiderman
Got a question or complaint? Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered. E-mail to
kokualine@starbulletin.com.
See also: Useful phone numbers