The Franchise Tax Board said Friday, Nov. 4 that it has issued 4.5 million direct deposits and mailed out 905,000 prepaid debit cards since distribution began Oct. 28. (iStockphoto)
Haven’t gotten your Middle Class Tax Refund?
You and 17,999,999 taxpaying California residents haven’t either.
It’s been a week since California started sending out the MCTR to millions of qualifying residents. The Franchise Tax Board said Friday that it has issued 4.5 million direct deposits and mailed out 905,000 prepaid debit cards since distribution began Oct. 28.
A representative with the tax board said the state still has 18 million more payments to distribute between now and mid-January.
“We expect about 95% of all MCTR payments – direct deposit and debit cards combined – to be issued by the end of this year,” the FTB said via email.
The state in June set aside $9.5 billion from its $308 billion annual budget for inflation-relief payments. Initially proposed as a gas rebate, the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom settled on a plan to return some of the state’s $98 billion budget surplus to residents struggling with rising prices amid record-high inflation.
Payments will range from $200 for certain high-income earners to $1,050 for married, joint tax filers with a dependent.
Similar to the pandemic-related Golden State Stimulus payment programs, recipients of the MCTR must be California residents and tax filers in order to qualify. The state will base relief payments on adjusted gross income found in 2020 tax returns.
Households with joint tax filers will get as much as $1,050 if they have eligible dependents and earn less than $150,000 annually in AGI. The benefit falls to $750 for income earners above $150,000 and to $600 for dual-filers who earn $250,001 to $500,000. There is no benefit for joint filers who make more than $500,000 annually or single filers who earn $250,000.
If you were not a recipient of the GSS programs, expect to get the tax refund between Dec. 5 and January, according to a schedule posted on the tax board’s website.
Here’s a peek at that schedule:
- GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with A – E): 10/24/2022 through 11/05/2022
- GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with F – M): 11/06/2022 through 11/19/2022
- GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with N – V): 11/20/2022 through 12/03/2022
- GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with W – Z): 12/04/2022 through 12/10/2022
- Non-GSS recipients (last name beginning with A – K): 12/05/2022 through 12/17/2022
- Non-GSS recipients (last name beginning with L – Z): Will be announced after 11/21/2022
- Direct deposit recipients who have changed their banking information since filing their 2020 tax return: 12/17/2022 through 01/14/2023
The state has set up a page at the FTB website where residents can check eligibility and how much they will receive.
Originally published at Samantha Gowen