You could get your tax rebate by May

updated 6:44 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2008

WASHINGTON - With unprecedented speed and cooperation, Congress and the White House forged a deal Thursday to begin rushing tax rebates of $600 to $1,200 to most tax filers by spring, hoping they will spend the money just as quickly and jolt the ailing economy to life.

Rebates would be even higher for families with children.

The one-time tax rebates are at the center of a hard-won agreement to pump about $150 billion into the economy this year and perhaps stave off the first recession since 2001. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican leader John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson worked out the details in negotiations that stretched into Wednesday night at the Capitol.

About two-thirds of the tax relief would go out in rebate checks to 117 million families beginning in May. Businesses would get $50 billion in incentives to invest in new plants and equipment.

Individual taxpayers would get up to $600 in rebates, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child under the agreement. In a key concession to Democrats, 35 million families who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

The rebates would phase out gradually for individuals whose adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 and for couples with incomes above $150,000. Contributions to IRA and 401(k) retirement accounts and health savings accounts would not count toward the income limit.

"This package will lead to higher consumer spending and increased business investment," Bush said in hailing the agreement.

The bill will go straight to the House floor next week and on to the Senate, where some Democrats hope to add elements such as extending unemployment benefits for workers whose benefits have run out.

Who gets what How Americans in different financial situations would fare under the rebate plan proposed by House leaders and the White House. — An individual with $2,500 in earned income in 2007: Disqualified because income fell below the $3,000 threshold. No rebate. — A married couple with no children, with adjusted gross income of $100,000 in 2007: Would qualify for the full $1,200 couples. A $1,200 rebate. — A worker with one child, who earned $9,000 and owed no taxes in 2007: Would qualify for the $300 rebate available to individuals who pay no taxes but earned at least $3,000, plus an additional $300 for the child. A $600 rebate. — A couple with income of $145,000 in 2007, with three children: Would qualify for the full $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child. A $2,100 rebate. — A couple with income of $160,000 in 2007 with two children: Would qualify for a partial rebate, reduced by 5 percent for every $1,000 in income above the $150,000 threshold. An $1,800 rebate — $1,200 for the couple plus $300 per child — would go down by 50 percent for this family. A $900 rebate. — A couple with income of $200,000 and four children: Disqualified because their income exceeded $174,000, the phase-out limit. No rebate. — An individual with adjusted gross income of $23,000 and no dependents: Would get a rebate of $600. — A couple with adjusted gross income of $160,000 and two children: Would get a rebate of $1,300. — A couple with adjusted gross income of $184,000 and two children: Would get a $100 rebate.

Indeed, many Democrats, such as Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the liberal lion of the Senate, were deeply unhappy that Pelosi agreed to jettison that proposal in late-stage talks, as well as plans to increase food stamp payments.

"I do not understand, and cannot accept, the resistance of President Bush and Republican leaders to including an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are without work through no fault of their own," Rangel said.

The administration signaled it's unlikely to welcome efforts to broaden the measure, and pressure was mounting in the Senate to accept the hard-won deal.

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