A new round of stimulus cash is heading to California residents by the end of August, according to the state’s Franchise Tax Board.
Will you get a payment?
On July 12, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 129, which includes $12 billion in cash relief for middle-class families “hit hardest by the pandemic.”
“The state is taking on the inequities laid bare by the pandemic, expanding our support for Californians facing the greatest hardships…,” Newsom said of the $100 billion California Comeback Plan.
The so-called Golden State Stimulus payments were drawn from federal pandemic recovery funds and the state’s $75.7 billion budget surplus.
Newsom’s office estimates nearly two-thirds of Californians will be eligible for a stimulus check of $600. Qualifying families with children will receive an additional $500.
Similar to the federal stimulus payments, the money will be sent either by direct deposit to bank accounts used for annual tax refunds or by paper checks.
A representative of the state’s Franchise Tax Board said Monday, Aug. 23 that payments will start going out by the end of August and continue in batches every two weeks.
To qualify, residents must:
- File 2020 taxes by Oct. 15, 2021;
- Have adjusted gross income of $0 to $75,000 for the 2020 tax year;
- Be a state resident for more than half of the 2020 tax year;
- Be a state resident the date payment is issued;
- Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer;
- A dependent is a qualifying child or qualifying relative.
Earlier this year, the Golden State Stimulus program distributed its first payments of $600 or $1,200 for low-income families that receive the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit. Those families typically earn less than $30,000 annually.
To get an estimate on your California stimulus payment, go to ftb.ca.gov