Will You Get a State Stimulus Check This Year?

Who gets a check, how large the check is, and when the check arrives varies from state to state. Dreamstime/TNS

By Rocky Mengle From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Question: I heard that some states are handing out stimulus checks. Is this true?

Answer: You heard correctly. The final federal stimulus checks were mailed in 2021. For the economic woes facing Americans in 2022—most notably, high inflation—there’s been no such relief from Uncle Sam.

But some states have stepped in and filled the void. Using budget surpluses generated from post-pandemic recoveries and federal COVID-relief funds, 20 states are sending (or have sent) rebate checks or other payments to their residents. Some states are even sending more than one payment this year.

The 20 states sending out checks are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia.

These state payments generally aren’t as large as the federal stimulus checks sent during the pandemic, but they still help families that are paying more to keep food on the table and gas in their tanks. (Some states also enacted gas tax holidays, temporarily suspended grocery taxes, or cut taxes in other ways to help residents.)

Who gets a check, how large the check is, and when the check arrives varies from state to state. Many states reserve checks for those who fall below certain income limits. Dependents are often ineligible. Or you may have to be a resident for at least a certain amount of time to receive a check.

For example, Californians who have lived in the state for at least six months could be eligible for checks worth $200 to $1,050, depending on income, filing status, and whether they have dependents. The California Franchise Tax Board has an online tool that gives you a payment estimate.

Meanwhile, residents who have lived in Colorado for all of 2021 and are age 18 and older could receive a payment of $750 if their tax filing status is single or $1,500 if they filed jointly. Hawaii has been sending out tax refunds to those who filed a state return in 2021 for $100 or $300 per family member, depending on filing status and income. And Illinois is offering two tax rebates this year—one for income taxes and one for property taxes.

To learn more, check out the tax guides that states have posted online.

(Rocky Mengle is tax editor at Kiplinger.com. For more on this and similar money topics, visit Kiplinger.com.)

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