Tax Rebates to Be Spent Practically?
Well, the Federal government was hoping that the tax rebate checks that are fairly generous amounts of money for many people, especially married couples, would spur the economy with a bit of old fashioned frivolous spending. Wait, what did I just say? Frivolous spending? That’s a thing of the past in this gloom and doom economy, right?
Well, the government is not counting on that, and they are hoping that the tax rebate checks coming in May and beyond will be spent (blown) right away, boosting the retail environment and prompting a surge in consumer spending that may in fact boost the economy by giving more to business, small and large alike, and help pull us out of an impending or already-here recession. Heck, maybe while we’re at it, it may even boost the stock market which seems to be as volatile as oil and water mixed together right now.
Problem is, in polls that were run recently, consumers are saying that they plan on either saving the money or paying off bills with it. Does this really count as spending, at least in the way the rebates were intended to be spent? Well, that’s for a specialist to decide, certainly not me, but I’m not so sure that’s what the Fed had in mind when they put together the economic stimulus package that included the tax rebates to tax payers.
It still may help though, because if Americans are going to save it, that means more money for the faltering banking economy, and also may mean more money to businesses anyways, since they will still supposedly be paying off bills that may be late, or will be paying this money to some other business, whether it be a grocery store, a utility business, a car payment, or whatever other late bills of catch ups the American people decided needs it most (hmm, maybe even that gas credit card you’ve been meaning to get paid off so you don’t have to look at it any more, you name it).
