Amounting to up to $354 million, around 600,000 individual direct payments made their way into Californians’ pockets as a new batch of the Golden State Stimulus Checks were issued by the state.
According to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, this follows California’s financial aid plan which aims to distribute around $12 billion total in relief aid to help Californians especially those struck most by the pandemic.
These checks will help at least 66% of California residents recover from the financial costs of the past year. The Golden State Stimulus is also apparently the holder for the record of the biggest tax rebate in the history of the US.
Qualifiers for the direct payments are a California resident for most of last year (and still live in the state), have a Social Security Number (SSN) or an or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and cannot be claimed by any other taxpayer as a dependent.
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Eligibility for the stimulus check is also determined by their income tax return from the past year. If the tax returns are filed late, the resident may expect a delay in the arrival of the checks too.
For those who typically get their state tax refund by mail, the first payments are estimated to be mailed out on October 5.
Up to $600 will be received in stimulus money by taxpayers earning at least $75,000 or less. Should they have a dependent, the taxpayer may expect an additional $500 per dependent.
While the checks were automatically delivered last Friday, there has not been an exact date for batch two of the payments. Although, according to Daniel Tahara, a spokesman for the state’s Franchise Tax Board, “The next round of payments will go out in approximately two weeks, though an exact date has not been set yet.”
To check for your eligibility status and how much you’re due, you can check out the Golden State Stimulus II Estimator | FTB.ca.gov
Applicants who are still looking to avail of the Golden State Stimulus Checks can apply until October 15, 2021.