Stimulus update: California residents getting tax refunds worth up to $1,050 next month

Asher Notheis

December 14, 05:22 PM December 14, 05:22 PM

California residents can expect to receive direct payments of up to $1,050 as part of a state program intended to give residents relief amid inflation across the country.

The payment, titled the Middle Class Tax Refund, will be sent out to eligible Californians, with the final waves of direct deposits and state-issued debit cards set to be sent by the end of next month. The specific amount that residents receive from this payment will depend on various factors, including the income of recipients and how many dependents the recipients have.

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Single filers making between $125,000 and $250,000 with no dependents will receive a payment of $200, a lower payment compared to what other filers may get. Married filers who make $150,000 or less and have dependents, on the other hand, will receive the highest payment available from this refund at $1,050.

Any resident who was deemed eligible to be claimed as a dependent for taxes in 2020 is not eligible for this offer.

To qualify for this payment, applicants must have been residents of California for at least six months during the 2020 tax year, have filed their 2020 taxes by Oct. 15, 2021, and have earned less than $250,000 a year for single filers or less than $500,000 a year for couples in that year.

Direct deposit payments will be made to any taxpayers who filed their 2020 state tax returns online and received their tax refunds by direct deposit. For everyone else who qualifies for this payment, Middle Class Tax Refund debit card payments will be given to them via the mail, according to California's Franchise Tax Board.

The specific time frame in which California residents receive this payment will vary, and some people have already received their payments as of mid-October. Middle Class Tax Refund direct deposit recipients who have changed their banking information since they filed their 2020 tax return will have a debit card mailed to them between Dec. 17 and Jan. 14 of next year, with everyone else who is still waiting for a refund getting a debit card mailed to them by Jan.14.

Additional information can be found by visiting California's Franchise Tax Board's website or by calling 800-542-9332.

Social Security update: Second of monthly checks worth $1,755 to arrive in 18 days

Asher Notheis

December 13, 04:41 PM December 13, 04:41 PM

Supplemental Security Income recipients are set to receive their second of two December payments in less than three weeks, bringing the total amount they receive from SSI to $1,755.

Eligible recipients have already received their first payment of $841 on Dec. 1 and will receive their second payment of $914 on Dec. 30. The second installment is 8.7% higher than the first due to a cost of living adjustment being made to keep up with inflation, according to the Social Security Administration.

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Essential persons, meaning someone who lives with a person receiving SSI and provides necessary care, will also get a payment on Dec. 30 that will be higher than what they received on Dec. 1, this being worth $458, a slight increase from their Dec. 1 payment of $421. Eligible couples will receive two payments of $1,261 for the month of December, with monthly payments increasing next year to $1,371.

December is one of three months this year in which people receive two SSI payments. The other months with two installments in 2022 were April and September.

The double payments offset the months in which no payment is sent out to ensure eligible recipients receive 12 payments a year, according to the schedule. These months include January, May, and October, as the first of these months occurred on a weekend, and the SSA issues payments on the first business day of the month.

To make sure recipients get their payments by the first of a month, the SSA gives SSI checks on the business day prior to months that begin on a weekend or holiday, according to the agency. December is one of these months due to Jan. 1, 2023, being a holiday.

Recipients can expect to receive double payments in March, June, September, and December of next year, as the months that come right after these months either fall on a weekend or on a holiday.