If i owe taxes can i claim a lottery jackpot? If i owe taxes can i claim a lottery jackpot?

Of course. They will just take out the tax you owe, tax on your win, any other penalties and fees, and give you the rest. If you are wanted for illegal tax evasion crimes, they may also take that opportunity to arrest you.

However, if you owe a bunch of taxes, perhaps a better strategy would be to save your money so you can pay back what you owe, rather than wasting your money gambling on lottery tickets.

I owe taxes from 2006 to federal and state. I didn't have the money to pay them.

By now you have received notice from IRS to pay. If you can't full pay, IRS will take payments. You have 60 months to pay off your debt. The minimum payment accepted is $25.00 per month. If you have it taken from your checking out there is a User Fee charge of $52.00. If you make payments by mail the User Fee charge is $105.00. Or even a payroll deduction installment agreement, if your employer accepts them, your employer will take the money from your pay and mail the payments to IRS for you. The installment agreement user fee is a one time fee, unless you defaulted your installment agreement then you are charge a reinstatement fee of $45.00. Complete form 9465, or if you prefer call IRS at 1-800-829-0922 or 1-800-829-8374 and set up an installment agreement over the phone. You can also visit IRS website: www.irs.gov to set up an installment agreement. When you file your return next year, if you are getting a refund, it will be offset to pay your remaining balance, even if you have an installment agreement the refund will be applied to your balance. Call today and get a payment plan, its better than having IRS garnish your wages, putting liens or levys on your accounts.

If I owe taxes when I file will this amount be deducted from my tax rebate amount?

I am eligible for $600, but will owe around $500.00. If I am unable to pay the $500.00 when I file and request a payment plan, will they simply deduct the $500.00 and send me $100 instead?
Also, can you post a link verifying your answer.

Ignore the first post. Any refundable credit that posts to your account will be offset to any balance due.

I claimed too many exemptions (my first year filing, I didn't know!) and I owe $211 to the feds. Will this automatically disqualify me for the tax rebate? I don't know if I fall under the $300 or $600 category.

Owing will not disqualify you. You need to pay the $211--as it will accrue interest and penalties after 4/15.

As for getting $300, did you make at least $3000 in wages? Were you NOT a dependent? Did you actually pay more in taxes than $600?

I am newly married, but filing separately. On my W4 I claimed myself as the only dependent, but checked to withhold at higher single rate. I don't understand why I owe almost $1000 when I usually get a refund of approximately $400. What happened?

The rate for filing single and married, filing separately are the same. You may have fewer deductions. Also, your income probably went up. Maybe the tax rate went up - that wouldn't surprise me. Do a line by line comparison and see where the difference is.
-MM

I owe money and have no intention of paying them. Will they just take what I owe out and send me the difference?

If you have PAID your taxes, then yes, you will receive the stimulus check. If you filed and still owe the IRS, then no... you will not get a check, but they will put the stimulus amount towards what you owe.

If I owe taxes from last year, am I eligible for a tax rebate?

I owed a lot last year, and am still in a pay arrangement with the IRS. Do you know if this disqualifies me?

I guess 1/2 of that would go back to them anyway, to finish paying them off. :(
I meant to write the rebate proposed by Bush today.

There is no rebate; it's ONLY talk at this stage. However if it materializes I'd wager a steak dinner that anyone with a tax debt will see it applied against their debt if they get anything at all. But that, like any other answer you may get, is PURELY a guess.

Do I need to owe taxes to get the Hope or Lifetime Learning Credit?

I am hoping to claim the hope or Liftime Learning tax credit this tax year as I have been paying tuition for my wife's education. I read somewhere that you need to owe taxes to the IRS in order to get these credits. Does this mean that if my paycheck witholdings exceed my total tax bill (after applying these credits?), I will not receive the credit, or only receive it to the extent I owe?
In that case, should I file a new W-4 and reduce my withholding?

No, you do not have to owe taxes on April 15th to get one of those credits. You do have to pay taxes to get the credit.

It is what is called a "non-refundable" credit...which means that the hope or lifetime learning credit cannot be what causes the refund.

So a person (you, for example) who gets SOME of their withholding refunded to them (before applying the education credit) can qualify for the credit. But if a person gets ALL of their withholding refunded to them (again, before applying the edutation credit) because they didn't earn enough money to owe taxes, that person cannot take the Hope Credit to get even more money back than they paid in during the year.

Hope this helps...