If you haven’t received your inflation relief payment yet, keep a close eye on your bank account and mailbox.
California is still sending out the Middle Class Tax Refund through early next year.
The state is sending out the payments by direct deposit and debit card. (To figure out which one you can expect, see the requirements here.)
Direct deposits may be issued to your bank with a cryptic memo. In the case of one Nexstar employee’s direct deposit, the description in their bank statement read “FTB MCT REFUND MCT REFUND PPD.”
FTB stands for Franchise Tax Board, the state agency managing the disbursement of the tax refunds. “MCT REFUND” refers to the official name of the one-time inflation relief payments, the Middle Class Tax Refund.
The payment could be anywhere from $200 to $1,050, depending on your 2020 income, filing status and number of dependents.
To avoid confusion – or worse, someone tossing out their tax refund as junk mail – the state has also provided a photo of what the debit cards look like.
The state is working with Money Network to send out the debit cards, the Franchise Tax Board says, and you’ll need to activate the card online once you get it in the mail.
If you haven’t received your inflation relief yet, it may be because it’s not your turn. The Franchise Tax Board is issuing payments in batches, starting with people who received Golden State Stimulus in 2021 and moving in alphabetical order. You can see the full MCTR payment schedule (that’s been released so far) here.
The state has issued about 6 million direct deposits and 1.6 million debit cards so far. The Franchise Tax Board estimates about 18 million payments in total will be sent out by mid-January.