Tired of trying to figure out if you’ll be eligible for a federal income-tax “rebate” check – and how much money you might receive?

You can find out for yourself, right now, at no charge. With little fanfare, the Internal Revenue Service has just activated a program on its Web site that lets you see, with only a few clicks of the mouse, whether you’ll get a check and how much it might be for.

This is the program I wrote about before, the one the IRS had been working on behind the scenes. Now it’s official. I tested it, and it worked for me. So give it a try.

Start with the IRS Web site’s home page: www.irs.gov.

Look for the headline, “Where’s My Advance Child Tax Credit?” By clicking on that, you’ll come to the rebate home page. There, click on this link: “Go Get My Advance Child Tax Credit Status!”

This brings you to what the IRS says is a secure section of its Web site. Once there, you’ll be asked to enter a few items from your 2002 tax return (some or all of which you probably know by heart):

n Your Social Security number (or your IRS individual tax identification number).

n Your “filing status” (in other words, whether you filed your 2002 return as single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, or qualifying widow or widower).

n The total number of “exemptions” you listed on your return (you generally list an exemption for you, your spouse and each of your children).

Within seconds, a new screen should pop up, letting you know whether you’ll get a “rebate” check, how much it’ll be for and when it’ll be mailed.

Patricia A. Thompson, head of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants’ federal and state tax committee, said that as long as you don’t mind plugging your Social Security number and other personal information into the system, it should work for you.

“Once you get beyond the security issues, I think it’s a good thing,” said Thompson, who is also tax partner at Piccerelli Gilstein & Co. LLP, a CPA firm in Providence.

The checks relate to an increase in the federal child tax credit brought about by the new federal tax law.

The old credit was worth up to $600 per child; the new one is worth up to $1,000 per child. If you’re eligible, you’ll get the difference – up to $400 per child – in the form of an advance payment (or what I call a “rebate” check for convenience).

The Financial Management Service, a branch of the U.S. Treasury, started mailing the checks last week.

Overall, the government is to mail about $14 billion in rebates to about 25.35 million American households, according to Treasury estimates based on 2002 returns.

Most of the checks will go out in batches of about 8 million each: the first last week, the second Aug. 1, the third Aug. 8.

Which batch will include your check? It depends on the last two digits of the Social Security number that appears first on your 2002 return. For example, if the last two digits are between 00 and 33, your check will be in the first batch.

Shortly before your check is shipped, you should get a notice by mail letting you know whether you’re eligible and how much money you can expect to receive.

Here are a few other points to keep in mind:

n Many readers will be able to take advantage of the new IRS program that lets them know whether they’re eligible for a rebate and how much they might receive. But many others will be left out because they don’t have a computer (or they don’t have an Internet hook-up), Thompson said. (The IRS program is only available via the Internet, IRS spokeswoman Peggy Riley acknowledged.)

If you don’t have ready access, consider using a computer at a public library, community college or public college or university, Thompson said.

Even if you don’t find take advantage, you’ll know soon enough whether you’ll get a rebate because mailings will start shortly.

n Remember that the new program is just for convenience. If you’re eligible for a rebate, you don’t have to use the program, and you don’t have to take any other steps, either; you’ll get a notice and a rebate check automatically (assuming you’re eligible). The IRS has publicly cautioned taxpayers about scams involving the rebates.

n If you’re eligible for a rebate, your check will be included in the first three big batches only if you filed your 2002 return by this year’s April 15 filing deadline.

If you filed after that (if you’re on an automatic four-month filing extension, for instance), the government will mail your rebate shortly after it processes your return.

In other words, don’t give up; mailings of rebate checks will continue (in smaller weekly batches) for the rest of this year, through December.

n Although millions of American households will be getting a check, millions more won’t. To be eligible, you must have at least one child, and each child must be under age 17 as of the end of this year.

There are other hurdles to clear, too. For instance, you had to have claimed the child tax credit on your 2002 return; your income must fit within a certain range (which varies, depending on how many children you have and other factors); and you can’t be delinquent on income taxes, federally backed student loans, or child support payments.

Even if you aren’t eligible for a rebate, you may benefit from some of the other tax breaks contained in the new law. (More details are available on the IRS Web site.)

TODAY’S TIP: Suppose your spouse deliberately fails to report some income on your tax return, or falsely claims a deduction, all without your knowledge.

This can cause problems: If you’re married and file a joint federal return, you’re responsible for tax, interest and penalty related to that return – even if you and your spouse later divorce.

But you may be able to get a break, under a provision the IRS generally calls “innocent spouse relief.” The IRS recently revised its booklet on this subject. It’s Publication 971, “Innocent Spouse Relief.” The new version (dated July 2003) is available only on the IRS Web site: www.irs.gov.

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(Neil Downing is a Journal staff writer and author of ” The New IRAs and How to Make Them Work for You.” If you have questions about your money matters, call us at 1-401-277-7484 or 1-888-697-7656 and leave a message. (When calling toll-free, please ask for ext. 7484.) We can’t reply personally; as many questions and issues as possible will be addressed in this column.)

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AP-NY-07-28-03 0616EDT