>>>
back at 8:36. the deadline to file your taxes is looming. while you may not want to think about all that paperwork, there is extra money to be had if you know where to look. "today" financial editor jean chatzky sat down for an exclusive interview with vice president
joe biden
. jean, good morning to you.
>>
good morning, meredith. the
white house
says this year's average refund will be $3,036, an increase of $266 per taxpayer. vice president biden says it's the result of a number of
tax credits
built into last year's
stimulus package
and he wants you to know about them. there are assorted credit that is people may not know about.
>>
that's right. every couple will get an $800
tax cut
. most of the people, their employers when would it from their withholding. meaning they got $30 a month more, 60 bucks a month more and probably didn't even notice where it came from. they got more in their paycheck. if you didn't get it in your paycheck and you're preparing your tacks, then you're entitled to a couple -- you're entitled to 800 bucks. 800 bucks.
>>
but you have to file.
>>
you have to ask for it. you have to ask for it. a lot of people already got it. second big thing here is that if you -- for example, if you have a child in college and you're paying 15 grand or seven grand to send a kid to college, you get $2,500
tax credit
.
>>
so people understand, the credit is so much better than the deduction.
>>
absolutely. the
federal government
writes you a check and says here. if you're a first-time home buyer, it's the first time you bought a home worth more than $80,000, the
federal government
will write a check to you.
>>
a lot of times when
tax law
changes, when we get new credits into the system, people don't know.
>>
that's exactly right.
>>
that they're actually eligib eligible. the fact that you're putting the message out there is terrific. if i'm in peoria, how do i figure out if i'm due money?
>>
listen to jean.
>>
you've got a new tool.
>>
go to whitehouse.gov. it will literally give you a menu. lay out there and it will say this is what you're entitled to. fill this out. this is the forms you need. we'll literally walk you -- it's not hard, not even for me.
>>
have you done this? did you do your taxes?
>>
i use d to do my own taxes but today everybody thinks it's too dangerous, if i made a mistake, it would become international news. i have
someone else
doing it. the
american people
pay me a really good salary and i don't deserve a
tax break
at this point. but the people who need it sitting at those kitchen tables figuring out how do i keep my child in
school
? the costs when i go to work and my
child care
and all those things.
>>
let's talk about those people. refunds are great and $260 is fabulous. nobody is going to turn down that money right now. but we've got unemployment still bordering on 10%. we've got
americans
with an awful lot of debt, short selling their homes.
>>
yeah.
>>
are people going to view this sort of announcement as not enough?
>>
look, the big guys know how to get their
tax break
.
>>
of course they do.
>>
they know how to go do it. don't miss it. for somebody it could mean as much as $8,000 or $10,000. it's not enough to change the equation, but it is enough to see to it that people are beginning to be treated more fairly.
middle class
people need some assistance.
>>
now, about that extra $8,000 to $10,000, if you need it to put food on the table, by all means, use it. but with unemployment still hovering around 10%, it's really a good idea to have a cushion for a
rainy day
.
>>
if you can, put it away, sock it away.
>>
absolutely.
>>
let's talk about these
tax credits
that the vice president mentioned, beginning with the make work pay credit. how does that work and who is eligible for that?
>>
people who are employed, essentially, are eligible. it starts to phase out at $75,000 for a single filer or $150,000 for joint filers, couples filing jointly and it's worth 400 for singles, up to 8 h00 for couples. it came in the paychecks for a lot of people. if you work two jobs, the thing you have to be careful of is that if both your employers gave you that credit, you may actually owe money.
>>
what about the education benefits that the vice president mentioned?
>>
the american opportunity
tax credit
. it's in place of the hope credit. it's worth $2,500, great money. it's broader than the education credits we've had in the past. things like books and materials are actually covered.
>>
and, finally, he talked about the first-time home buyer's
tax credit
.
>>
if you bought a
house
in
2009
up to
november 6th
, you are eligible for this $8,000 credit. again, it started to phase out at incomes of $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples. starting
november 7th
until
april 30th
of this year, you could actually earn more money. it didn't start to phase out until you were earning $125,000 for singles and $250,000 for couples. and you have to go to contract by the end of april, but you don't actually have to close on your new
house
until june. so, there's
still time
.
>>
jean chatzky, good information.
>>>
still ahead, much more from
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