It’s been a year and a half since California started sending direct payments to millions of residents to help ease the burden of inflation, but more than 600,000 people haven’t even touched the pot of money they’re entitled to.
The state’s Franchise Tax Board started issuing the Middle Class Tax Refund – commonly referred to as “inflation relief” payments – by direct deposit and debit cards in October 2022. By September of last year, the last round of payments had been sent out.
All but the wealthiest Californians qualified for some amount of inflation relief. The payments varied in size from $200 to $1,050.
The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) estimates 7.2 million payments were deposited straight into Californians’ bank accounts, totaling around $4 billion in benefits. But even more people, around 9.6 million, received a debit card in the mail – and only 90% of those cards have been activated.
A small number of the remaining debit cards were converted to paper checks, but that still leaves 624,000 debit cards loaded with at least $125 million in benefits untouched.
Californians still have about two years to activate and use the remaining funds.
Beneficiaries can activate their cards by calling 1-800-240-0223. If you’ve lost your card or think it’s been stolen, you can call the same number and follow the prompts to order a replacement.
Even among the activated debit cards, many haven’t been fully used. Less than half of the debit cards have a zero balance, according to the FTB’s latest accounting. Any unused benefits will no longer be available after the program expires on April 30, 2026.