Tax season 2023: IRS advises early filers to consider filing an amended return if they reported tax refunds as taxable

Asher Notheis

April 12, 02:06 PM April 12, 02:06 PM

Taxpayers who jumped early on filing their taxes this year might want to file an amendment if they reported certain refunds they received last year as taxable.

The IRS issued a clarification in February regarding the federal tax status for special payments issued to taxpayers in several states last year, in which the agency determined that taxpayers in many states did not need to report these payments on their tax returns. Because of this, taxpayers who filed prior to this clarification on Feb. 10, as tax season started on Jan. 23, should check if filing an amendment is in order, the IRS announced Tuesday.

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The states where residents are not required to report these state payments on this year's tax return are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. For residents of Alaska, the only state payment they do not need to report on their 2022 taxes is the supplemental Energy Relief Payment they received.

Residents of Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Virginia are also not required to include special state 2022 tax refunds as income under certain conditions. These conditions consist of if the payment residents received was a refund of state taxes paid, as well as if the recipient either claimed the standard deduction for the tax year 2022 or itemized their tax year 2022 deductions but did not receive a tax benefit.

Taxpayers who think they meet these requirements and filed prior to Feb. 10 should check their tax return to see if they paid tax on a state refund before filing an amended return. For taxpayers who used a tax professional when filing taxes, they should check with said professional to determine if filing an amended return is called for.

A taxpayer can also opt to send in a paper amendment, though they will not receive their refund through direct deposit and instead receive a paper check.

Taxes are due on April 18, not April 15, due to it falling on a weekend this year. In addition, April 17 is recognized as Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C., and all Washington holidays affect tax deadlines across the United States, meaning that tax returns will be due on the following business day, April 18.

Taxpayers who are awaiting their refund can check online using the IRS's "Where's my refund" tool, which is free to use.

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.

Tax refund 2022: Massachusetts to send residents massive refund checks by end of year

Jack Birle

November 20, 04:24 PM November 20, 04:24 PM

Eligible residents of the commonwealth of Massachusetts are set to receive a one-time tax refund by the middle of next month.

The one-time refund is possible because of the $2.94 billion in excess of the state cap on revenue the state amassed, with the exact amount a person receives varying based on tax status.

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To be eligible for the refund, residents must have filed their 2021 tax return. Those who have not filed their 2021 taxes have until Sept. 15, 2023, and should receive their payments a few weeks after filing.

Payments have already been delivered to hundreds of thousands of Massachusettsans, per CBS Boston. For all residents who have filed their taxes, they should receive their payment by the middle of December.

To determine how much the payment will be, residents can consult the state's website.

The tax refund was triggered by the state's Chapter 62F cap on revenue, a law that has only been triggered one other time since 1986.