Here’s what you need to know about one-time checks to help offset inflation, including which residents are eligible to get money, how much they get, and when you can expect to receive them. About 23 million Californians will get inflation-relief checks worth up to $1,050 after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Thursday a $308 billion state budget that includes the payments. As part of the $17 billion Inflation Relief Package, about 23 million qualifying Californians will get payments, capped at $1,050 for co-filers with at least one dependent, later this fall. To help rein in rising prices in the state taxpayers’ pocketbooks, California is sending out single-payer checks for the reduction in inflation later this year.
The payments will come out each week through 2022, according to the state’s Revenue Board, as taxpayers file returns and qualify for rebates. If you filed your California State Income Tax Return in 2020 electronically and requested a direct deposit of the refund, you will also receive your tax rebate in the form of a direct deposit. To get the refund, you will need to file your 2020 state tax return by Oct. 15, 2021 (or Feb. 15, 2022, if you applied for a personal tax ID number and did not get one by Oct. 15, 2021). Delaware residents who filed a tax return in 2020 are eligible for the refund, as are residents who did not make enough money to file taxes for the year.
Residents who filed taxes in 2020 would be in first place for receiving the $300 stimulus check since eligibility would be determined based on the information in their tax returns. Paper checks might not arrive until July or August, but those who provided bank information on their 2021 tax returns will get a direct payment. Californians making under $75,000 per year who filed taxes through Oct. 15, 2021, would be eligible. In addition to meeting income requirements, residents will need to file 2020 tax returns by Oct. 15, 2021, live in California for at least half the 2020 tax year, and still live in California at the time of the payments.
Have an adjusted gross income (CA AGI) between $1 and $75,000 for the 2020 tax year. You can see the income breakdown and calculate eligibility through the California State Tax Commission.
In 2020, there were 500,000 more low-income tax returns filed in the state, and individuals could do so to qualify for the Golden State stimulus payments. Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries and the Social Security Administration, however, did not automatically qualify for a Golden State Stimulus payment, as the majority did not file federal taxes with the state, which is required for eligibility in California’s 2021 state stimulus programs, both Title I and II, as well as in California’s 2022 state stimulus program, although recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance had paid taxes with the Social Security Administration system for at least seven years in order to be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance.