Still waiting on Golden State Stimulus check? 784,000 are coming, state says

San Clemente resident Joe Rocca and his wife filed their 2020 taxes electronically on March 19 with their refund arriving by direct deposit in a bank account soon after.

In the summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new pandemic stimulus payment would be going to qualifying taxpayers by fall.

All you had to do was file tax returns on time, make a certain income and wait for the money to land.

Check, check and check, went the Roccas.

So far, the couple has yet to see their $600 stimulus payment promised by the state of California.

Rocca said a rep at the Franchise Tax Board told him recently they will likely get the payment in a mailed check by the end of the year.

“Another wonderfully run program by our state government,” he said in an email Wednesday.

The FTB said it will begin issuing another 784,000 payments Friday, Nov. 12. The state has so far sent out 5.7 million payments worth a combined $4.1 billion, according to Andrew LePage, a media liaison at the agency.

While most of the upcoming payments will be for qualifying residents who filed paper tax returns this year, there are several thousand direct deposits slated, too, LePage said.

The payments are coming from the Golden State Stimulus II program funded by federal and state pandemic aid.

For those with a qualifying income, the state is sending $600 payments to help with the pandemic cost challenges. Newsom in July said two-thirds of state taxpayers likely qualify for GSS II or a similar program called Golden State Stimulus I.

The newest program, GSS II, is for those who earned below $75,000 in adjusted gross income as reported on their 2020 tax returns. GSS I is for low-income residents earning less than $35,000.

An extra $500 will go to GSS II recipients who have qualifying dependents. (It’s $600 for GSS I recipients.)

Check your numbers

Here are some things to consider for anyone who hasn’t gotten a payment:

Unemployment benefits: According to the Franchise Tax Board, unemployment compensation is nontaxable in California. Those who received unemployment benefits last year might need to amend their California returns if a tax preparer inadvertently lumped those benefits into wages, pushing the AGI threshold above $75,000. Excluding UI benefits from your taxable income could mean a qualifying amount for GSS II.

Check your AGI: The tax board reminds us that the IRS and California have different adjusted gross income eligibility requirements for stimulus payments. “Therefore, there are many instances where a taxpayer might receive the federal stimulus but not the California stimulus,” the FTB said.

Have you moved or changed banks? If either of these scenarios is applicable, you’ll likely get a paper check. Check the ZIP code distribution list below for key dates.

Did you owe the state money (or break even)? The state notes that if you aren’t getting a refund, you probably didn’t provide bank account information for a direct deposit. In this case, qualifying residents will receive their GSS II payment in the mail.

What’s coming this week — and next?

Some 34,000 direct deposit payments will go out beginning Friday. By Monday, Nov. 15, 750,000 GSS II checks will hit the U.S. Postal Service. The FTB says it could take checks up to three weeks to arrive in mailboxes.

LePage said these latest checks and direct deposits have a combined value of nearly $555 million.

Recipients expecting a paper check can use their ZIP code to check the distribution schedule provided by the state:

—000-044: 10/06/2021 through 10/27/2021

—045-220: 10/18/2021 through 11/05/2021

—221-375: 11/½021 through 11/19/2021

—376-584: 11/15/2021 through 12/03/2021

—585-719: 1½9/2021 through 12/17/2021

—720-927: 12/13/2021 through 12/3½021

—928-999: 12/27/2021 through 1/1½022

Here’s the fine print

To qualify for the payments, residents must:

• File 2020taxes by Oct. 15, 2021;

• Have adjusted gross income of $1to $75,000for the 2020 tax year;

• Be a state resident for more than half of the 2020tax year;

• Be a state resident the date payment is issued;

• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer;

• A dependent is a qualifying child or qualifying relative. As previously reported, excluded from the payments are those whose income is solely derived from benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and State Supplementary Payment (SSP) and the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI), Social Security, CalWorks, unemployment, state disability insurance (SDI) and VA disability.

To get an estimate on your California stimulus payment, go to ftb.ca.gov