US stimulus checks – will you get one?
To help fight high inflation and financial hardships, some US states have started to send stimulus checks to support residents. Here’s what you need to know.
Many US states have issued “stimulus” checks to their residents to help them with the rising cost of living.
While the rate of inflation in the US slowed last month, the consumer price index is still 7.7% higher than it was this time last year.
The stimulus payments are similar to the ones the US federal government sent out throughout the pandemic, but every state has different stipulations. We’ve put together a list of the states offering aid, how much and when this can be expected.
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Stimulus checks in California
California’s “Middle Class Tax Refund” will be available to residents who filed a California tax return for 2020 by 15 October 2021, did not exceed certain income limits in 2020 (over $250,000 for single people and $500,000 for married couples), couldn’t be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax year in 2020 and who resided in California for at least six months in 2020.
Those eligible will receive anything from $200 to $1,050, based on income, filing status and whether they have dependents. You can use this online calculator by the California Franchise Tax Board to work out your payment amount.
Those who received a Golden State Stimulus (GSS) payment via direct deposit in 2021 or early 2022 will receive their California Middle Class Tax Refund between 7 October and 25 October 2022 via direct deposit. Around 90% of payments should be sent out in October. Additional direct deposit payments will go out between 28 October and 14 November.
Those who received a GSS by debit card will receive a Middle Class Tax Refund debit card in the mail between 25 October and 10 December, 2022. The Franchise Tax Board hopes to have given out 95% of all refund payments by 31 December.
The state is currently working its way through those with last names beginning F to M, so if you fall under this category you should receive your check soon.
Colorado stimulus checks
Residents of Colorado aged 18 and older as of 31 December 2021, who lived in the state for the whole of 2021, and filed a Colorado income tax return in the same year, or applied for a Colorado property tax/rent/heat credit will receive between $750 and $1,500.
The former amount will go to single filers, while the latter to joint ones.
The payments were issued on 30 September 2022 for those who filed a 2021 Colorado tax return or applied for a PTC rebate by 30 June 2022. Those who received an extension to file their 2021 Colorado tax return and filed by 17 October 2022 will see their payment issued on 31 January 2023.
Connecticut stimulus checks
To qualify for a full Connecticut Child Tax Rebate you must be a resident of the state, have claimed at least one child under 18 as a dependent on your 2021 federal income tax return, and must not have made over $100,000 in federal adjusted gross income for single filers and married couples filing separately, $160,000 for head-of-household filers, or $200,000 for married couples filing together.
Those eligible will receive a rebate of up to $250 per child, for a maximum of three children. Those who exceeded the threshold are eligible for a smaller rebate.
Applications for the rebate were due on 31 July 2022, and payments started to be sent out at the end of August.
Delaware stimulus checks
Relief Rebate checks of $300 per person are available to adult Delaware residents who filed a 2020 Delaware personal income tax return. Other adults who filed a 2021 Delaware tax return on time, or who are at least 18 years old, are also eligible.
The initial round of payments was sent out in May 2022, and additional payments were sent out throughout the summer. The state is working to allow adult residents who didn’t file a 2020 Delaware tax return to receive a payment.
Florida stimulus checks
Around 59,000 families with children qualified for a special one-time payment of $450. To qualify you had to be a foster parent, Guardianship Assistance Program participant, a recipient of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) assistance, relative caregiver or non-relative caregiver.
The payments were sent out in July 2022. If you think you should have received a payment but didn’t, call the Florida Department of Children and Families on 850-300-4323.
Georgia stimulus checks
Single-filing, full-year residents who filed a 2020 and 2021 Georgia income tax return will receive $250.
Head-of-household filers will receive $375 and married couples $500 for filing a joint return. However, residents cannot receive more than the tax paid on their 2020 tax return.
Those who used an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) when filing a return, didn’t owe any tax for 2020 or were claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return for 2020 will not be eligible, even if they filed both returns.
The first refund payments were sent in May 2022 and the state expected to have most payments sent by August. However, payments won’t be sent until your 2021 Georgia tax return is filed, so your payment will be delayed if you haven’t done so.
Hawaii stimulus checks
Residents of Hawaii who file an income tax return for the 2021 tax year who have been a resident of the state for at least nine months will receive a tax refund check of either $100 or $300 per family member, depending on their 2021 tax year filing status and federal adjusted gross income (AGI). Married couples with a federal AGI of under $200,000 and other filers with an AGI of under $100,000 qualify for $300.
Those who were claimed as a dependent on another person’s federal or Hawaii tax return, are a convicted felon in prison or were convicted of a misdemeanour and were in jail for all of 2021 will not qualify for the payments.
Hawaii started sending payments out in early September. Those who received their initial tax refund by paper check or had to pay taxes with their 2021 Hawaii return will receive a check by the end of October, postage delays allowing.
Those who had a 2021 Hawaii tax refund deposited directly into their account will see their additional tax refund given back in the same way.
Idaho payments
Full year residents of Idaho who file income tax returns for 2020 and 2021 by the end of 2022 will receive two tax rebates. Those who weren’t required to file Idaho returns for those years but submitted a grocery credit refund form are also eligible.
The first tax rebate will amount to the greater of $75 per family member or $12 of tax liability credits, other taxes, payments and donations of your 2020 return.
The second rebate will amount to the greater of $600 for married couples filing a joint return or $300 for all other filers, or 10% of the tax liability before credits, other taxes, payments and donations on your 2020 return.
The first round of rebates were sent off in March 2022, most of which have already been despatched. The second round of rebates began to be sent out late September. Direct deposit payments will be sent first and paper check will follow.
Illinois stimulus checks
Illinois is also offering two tax rebates this year, one for income taxes and the other for property taxes.
If you were a resident of the state in 2021 and had an adjusted gross income of under $200,000 or $400,000 for joint filers in their 2021 Illinois tax return, you qualify for the income tax rebate. The amount of income tax rebate depends on your filing status and the number of dependents you claimed on your 2021 tax return. Qualifying residents get $50 (married couples get $100 if they filed a joint return) plus $300 per dependent up to £300.
Illinois residents who paid property taxes in 2021 on their primary residence in 2020 and had an adjusted gross income of $250,000 or less (or $500,000 or less for joint filers) qualify for the property tax rebate. Property tax credit is equivalent to the property tax credit claimed on your 2021 Illinois tax return but not greater than $300.
Illinois began sending rebate payments in September, but there’s a few months to wait until all payments are delivered. You can track your rebates online.
Indiana
Indiana is the third state to offer two tax rebates for 2022. To qualify for the first “Automatic Taxpayer Refund” (ATR), a payment of $125, you had to file a 2020 tax return by 3 January 2022. Those who qualify for the first ATR will qualify for the second one.
Those who don’t qualify for the first will still qualify for a second ATR of $200 if they received Social Security benefits in 2022 and if they aren’t claimed as dependents on anyone else’s tax returns. Those who only qualify for the second ATR won’t receive a $200 payment, instead they have to claim it as a credit when they file their 2022 Indiana tax return.
The first round of rebates was sent starting in May 2022. The second wasn’t sent off until August, but payments are expected to be delivered by the end of October.
Maine
Maine will send out “Covid Pandemic Relief Payments” of $850 per person or $1,700 per married couple to full-year residents who file their 2021 Maine income tax return by 31 October 2022, can’t be claimed as dependents on anyone else’s Maine tax return, and have a 2021 federal adjusted gross income of under $100,000 for single filers and married taxpayers filing separate returns, $150,000 for head-of-household filers, and $200,000 for joint filers.
Payments began to be sent off in June but will continue to be sent out through 2022 as additional 2021 tax returns are filed.
Massachusetts
Anyone who paid 2021 Massachusetts personal income taxes and filed their 2021 tax return by 17 October 2022 is eligible for a tax rebate. However the amount will vary per taxpayer, as this will amount to 14% of each eligible taxpayer’s state income tax liability from their 2021 tax return. Payments started being sent out November 1 and will arrive via mailed check or direct deposit if the state has your banking information.
New Jersey
New Jersey residents who owned or rented a primary home in the state on 1 October 2019 can now claim property tax rebates under the ANCHOR Tax Relief Program. Homeowners cannot have a 2019 household income of over $250,000. The limit for renters is $150,000. Applications can be sent in until 30 December 2022.
The amount of the payment depends on income and whether you own or rent your home. Homeowners with an income of $150,000 or less in 2019 will receive $1,500 while those with incomes from $150,001 to $250,000 will receive $1,000. Renters with an income of $150,000 or less will get a $450 rebate. Payments will begin to be sent off late spring 2023, and no later than May 2023.
New Mexico stimulus checks
New Mexico residents are able to claim two tax rebates. The first, a payment of $500, is for married couples filing joint returns, head-of-household filers and surviving spouses who had incomes of under $150,000 in 2021 and $250 for single filers and married people filing separately with an income of under $75,000. They must also file a 2021 tax return.
The second tax rebate, worth $1,000 for joint filers, head-of-household filers and surviving spouses and $500 for single filers and married residents filing separately, is for all residents who file a 2021 tax return. In both cases the state tax return must be filed by 31 May 2023 and you cannot be claimed as a dependent on anyone else’s tax return.
The first round of rebate payments was sent out in July 2022 and second-round payments were sent in separate batches in June and August of this year. Additional payments will be sent after 2021 tax returns are filed and processed.
New York stimulus checks
New York’s “Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit” will see homeowners receive an advance payment of a new income tax credit for the 2022 tax year. To get the payment you must qualify for a 2022 School Tax Relief (STAR) credit or exemption and have a school tax liability that’s more than your 2022 STAR benefit and have earned under $250,000 in 2020.
The amount you will be paid is a percentage of the STAR benefit, ranging from 18% to 162%. The exact amount will depend on your income, your home’s location, and whether you were a recipient of Enhanced STAR benefits or Basic STAR benefits.
The governor estimates the average payment for those living outside New York City will be $970, while city residents will get around $425.
Millions of New Yorkers have already received one or more of these payments but checks are still on the way – you should receive yours before your local school tax bills are due. The state will not send payments of under $100.
If you claimed New York’s child tax credit or earned income tax credit on your 2021 tax return you may get all or some of it back. These payments should have been issued to you already as the state expected to send them out by 31 October.
Oregon
Low-income Oregonians who claimed the state’s earned income tax credit on their 2020 tax return and lived in the state from 1 July to 31 December 2020 were paid “One-Time Assistance Payments” of $600 per household. Tax returns had to be filed by 31 December 2021, although amended 2020 returns could have been filed by 15 April.
Oregon began sending payments in June 2022, and no payments were allowed after 31 July 2022.
Pennsylvania
Those who are at least 65 years old, widowers aged at least 50, or a person with disabilities of at least 18 years of age were eligible for a payment under Pennsylvania’s “Property Tax/Rent Rebate” program. Homeowners couldn’t be earning over $35,000 per year, and renters had to be making under $15,000.
The standard rebate amount was dependent on income and whether you rented or owned your home. Eligible homeowners received or will receive payments of between $250 and $650. The standard rebate for renters is either $500 or $650.
Certain elderly citizens can get a rebate of as high as $975. Those who received a property tax rebate in 2021 will have their 2022 rebate reduced to 70% of their last rebate.
Payments started to be sent out in August 2022, but you can apply for a rebate until the end of the year, so they will continue into 2023.
Rhode Island
To qualify for Rhode Island’s Child Tax Rebate married couples who filed a joint return must have a federal adjusted gross income of $200,000 or less. Those of any other filing status cannot have an AGI of over $100,000, and you must also live in Rhode Island and consider it your permanent home.
Eligible families will get a rebate check of $250 per child up to a maximum of three children, though these are only available for children who were under 18 at the end of 2021.
Rhode Island started sending checks on 3 October to those who had filed their 2021 tax return by 31 August. Those who filed an extended tax return by 17 October 2022 will see their checks mailed starting in December 2022. You can check the status of your rebate online.
South Carolina
Anyone who filed a 2021 income tax return by 17 October 2022 and owes state income tax for the 2021 tax year will be eligible for a tax rebate. The amount will be based on your 2021 South Carolina income tax liability, minus credits. There is a cap but at present it remains undetermined. The minimum cap is $700 under state law, but it might be higher. It will be known after 17 October, which is also when payments will be sent. All payments are expected to be sent off before the end of the year, and you’ll receive them in the same way you received your refund — either by check or direct deposit.
Virginia
If you filed a Virginia income tax return by 1 November 2022 and have a 2021 Virginia tax liability, you should qualify for the state’s one-time tax rebate.
Most of Virginia’s rebates were sent by 31 October. Individual filers should have received $250, while joint filers should have received $500.
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Nic studied for a BA in journalism at Cardiff University, and has an MA in magazine journalism from City University. She has previously worked for MoneyWeek.