Good news, Californians: The Internal Revenue Service won’t tax the Middle Class Tax Refund issued by the state last year.
Earlier this month, the IRS had asked Californians and residents of other states who received payments or special tax refunds to hold off on filing their taxes, as the agency was working to determine if the funds were taxable as income.
California was one of 19 states that provided funds that might be considered taxable income by the federal government, but residents of the Golden State will likely be pleased to hear that the IRS has decided against taxing the MCTR payments, which ranged from $200 to $1,050.
“According to the IRS, you won’t need to report the payment as income on your 2022 return. So recipients can ignore the federal 1099-MISC form sent out last month by the state Franchise Tax Board,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The state agency is currently in the final phase of planned payments, sending the inflation relief checks to a small number of recipients who changed their address since filing their 2020 taxes. The FTB expects to be done with that part of the process by Feb. 14.
