California is giving itself a bit more time to send out the remaining Middle Class Tax Refunds. The inflation relief payments, which were announced last summer and started going out in October, will continue to be sent out through February.
Initially, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), the state agency in charge of disbursing the funds, released a payment schedule showing the final phase wrapping up on Saturday, Jan. 14. The FTB says the “vast majority of recipients” will still have their payment issued by then, but people whose addresses have changed since they filed their 2020 taxes may have their debit cards sent out between Jan. 30 and Feb. 14. (See the updated payment schedule below.)
Additionally, people who were expecting to receive a direct deposit should check their bank accounts this week. The FTB is issuing another large round of Middle Class Tax Refund (MCTR) payments for people whose information needed “additional review.”
“Some folks qualified for a direct deposit payment but were not part of the initial wave, which was wrapped up by Nov. 14 last year,” an FTB spokesperson told Nexstar. “The bulk of all direct deposits were issued by then. However, some payments require additional review and were, or will be, issued later. We anticipate that an additional 460,000 MCTR direct deposit payments will be issued by the end of this week.”
The schedule extension and late batch of direct deposits may give hope to people who haven’t received one yet.
If you haven’t received your payment, the first thing you should do is confirm you qualify for the Middle Class Tax Refund.
Then, you should verify your spot on the updated schedule (see below). That will help determine if your payment is late or still scheduled to come. The FTB says direct deposits usually take three to five days to show up, and debit cards can take up to two weeks to arrive.
If you believe you should have received your payment already but haven’t, the FTB suggests contacting customer service at 1-800-542-9332. A customer service agent will help you confirm you qualify, explain what payment you’ll receive and when.
If you still haven’t gotten paid by the time corresponding with your tax situation, don’t panic. “A relatively small number of recipients will receive their payments beyond the dates in our payment schedule,” the FTB said.
The agency “is committed to ensuring everyone who qualifies for a MCTR payment receives one.”
The precise number of remaining payments isn’t clear, but the latest data released by the FTB indicates it could be as high as 1.9 million.
Updated Middle Class Tax Refund (MCTR) schedule:
Direct deposit payments:
| Recipients | Payment issue date |
|---|---|
| GSS I or II direct deposit recipients | 10/07/22 through 10/25/22 |
| Non-GSS recipients who meet direct deposit requirements | 10/28/22 through 11/14/2022 |
Debit card payments:
| Recipients | Debit card mailing timeframe |
|---|---|
| GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with A – E) | 10/24/2022 through 11/05/2022 |
| GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with F – M) | 11/06/2022 through 11/19/2022 |
| GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with N – V) | 11/20/2022 through 12/03/2022 |
| GSS I or II check recipients (last name beginning with W – Z) | 12/04/2022 through 12/10/2022 |
| Non-GSS recipients (last name beginning with A – L) | 12/05/2022 through 12/17/2022 |
| Non-GSS recipients (last name beginning with M – Z) | 12/19/2022 though 12/31/2022 |
| Direct deposit recipients who have changed banking information since filing their 2020 tax return | 12/17/2022 through 01/14/2023 |
| Debit card recipients whose address has changed since filing their 2020 tax return | 01/30/2023 through 02/14/2023 |
The payments range in size from $200 to $1,050 depending on your income, tax filing status and number of dependents.