How to claim now

It’s been more than a year since California began sending inflation relief funds to its residents. More than 7 million payments have been sent, but more than 600,000 people have not yet claimed inflation relief from California. But for those people, there’s still time to claim their money.

Middle Class Tax Refund: How to Claim It

California has issued inflation relief funds, officially called the Middle Class Tax Rebate, from October 2022 to September 2023. Payments via direct deposit and debit cards ranged from $200 to $1,050.

About 7.2 million residents received middle-class tax refunds directly into their bank accounts, worth about $4 billion. About 9.6 million payments were made via debit cards, more than 90% of which were activated and about 3.5% converted to checks.

According to the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), more than half of the 90% of cards that are activated or used still have money on them, while about 46% of cards have a zero balance.

Additional analysis by FTB found that approximately 624,000 debit cards were unused, with a total value of approximately $125 million. People who haven’t yet claimed inflation relief from California don’t have to worry either.

You can activate your card until the program end date of April 30, 2026, but you must first call FTB at 1-800-240-0223. Some cardholders may not be aware that they can transfer funds from their card to a bank account of their choice.

According to FTB, reminder letters are being sent to California residents who have not yet activated their cards. If you have not yet received your debit card, or if your card is lost or stolen, you must call the same number to obtain a replacement card.

Additionally, anyone who has not received a debit card but is eligible to receive the money should check with FTB to ensure their address is up to date. Such people should visit FTB’s Middle Class Tax Return page for instructions on how to update their address.

Possible reasons why some people have not received inflation relief funds from California

There is no clear reason why more than half a million people have not yet claimed inflation relief from California. But a Reddit discussion about the middle-class tax rebate program suggests several reasons.

These reasons include people not receiving the card, not being aware of the program, and not clearly understanding why they received the card in the mail. There are many cases where relief cards are mistaken for fraudulent cards.

In the Reddit discussion, some said they had forgotten to activate the card, while others complained that they were having problems activating the card.

California’s middle class tax refund is a one-time payment and is not taxable at either the state or federal level.