Californians will begin receiving the much-needed Middle Class Tax refund starting Oct. 7.
The money is meant to help ease the black cloud looming over thousands, like single mother Ara Sotto, because of inflation-related debt.
“With prices being really high, and groceries, we can't even eat out, so it's really hard,” she said.
To get hands on the money, people need to have filed a 2020 tax return by October of last year, they can’t be someone's dependent, they need to have lived in California for more than six months, and they need to meet the income requirements.
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For that, people should pull out their tax forms and check their adjusted gross income.
Those that are married, filed jointly, make less than $150,000, and have at least one dependent, are getting the full amount -- $1,050.
Families making over $500,000 a year, don’t qualify.
The amount residents are receiving does change for those who filed as head of household or single.
Those that want to find out exactly how much they’re getting, can visit the state of California Franchise Tax Board website.
Also important to know is that for those that included a bank routing number in their 2020 tax returns, the refund will be deposited directly into their bank account between Oct 7 and Nov. 14.
Those that did not will receive it in a debit card that will be mailed out between Oct. 25 and Jan. 15.
“Because you're looking at high interest rates on credit card debt and you don't want them to one have them snowball into a situation where you can’t even pay the minimum payment,” said Caroline Chan, SJSU associate professor, who suggests clearing out credit card debt with the money.
Recent federal data shows credit card debt in the first quarter of this year went up by $770 billion, when compared to the same time last year
Families say the payments will help, but only for a moment.
“Eventually what we do want to see is prices going down, not just for gas but for everything else,” said Luis Daniani of San Jose.
