Recently letters began appearing in taxpayers' mailboxes which were supposed to explain the economic stimulus payments the government would be making later in the year, but in some cases, the letter has had the opposite effect than what was hoped for. Included with that letter were copies of Form 1040A intended for those who could qualify for the stimulus payment but had not filed a tax return because they were not required to by the IRS.

The confusion arose because some of the people receiving the letter had filed their taxes already, and they were wondering if they had to file again to get the stimulus payment.

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Blanche Balk, at a Nevada H&R Block office, said her office has been inundated with calls from confused taxpayers.

"We have had people calling us all day. We're getting bombarded with calls, asking about the stimulus payment," Balk said. "The letter confuses people because they included the Form 1040 in there and that makes them think they need to re-file."

Balk said the whole mater isn't as confusing as it might first appear.

The payments will be automatically figured by the IRS and taxpayers who have already filed don't have to do anything.

"If you've already filed your taxes, there's nothing more you have to do," Balk said. "But the people who don't usually have to file, like people that are on Social Security or veterans pensions, have to file a return in order to get the stimulus payments. You need to fill out a few lines on Form 1040A and send it in. You don't have to fill out the whole thing. They won't have to pay any tax, they'll just get money back."

Balk stressed that a taxpayer's refund has nothing to do with the stimulus payment; the two are completely separate.

"This doesn't have anything to do with their refund they'll be getting on their normal returns, absolutely nothing to do with that," Balk said.

Another requirement for receiving the stimulus payments is that a person must have a Social Security number. Taxpayer identification numbers and any other forms of identification are not acceptable.

More than 130 million people will receive the payments which could be as much as $600 for an individual or $1,200 for a married couple filing jointly.

Even those who pay no tax could qualify for a reduced stimulus payment ($300 individual, $600 married filing jointly) if they have a total of $3,000 in earned income, Social Security benefits, and/or certain veterans' payments. In addition, individuals eligible for payments may also receive an additional amount of $300 for each child qualifying for the child tax credit.

Taxpayers who have an adjusted gross income more than $75,000 for an individual or $150,000, if married filing jointly, will have a reduced payment, or no payment at all.