A friend of mine who is in his 80s called me the other day asking if I knew why he received a check in the mail from the State of California. It was a check for $600 as part of the Golden State Stimulus II program. Here are the details.

Golden State Stimulus I Payments

First off, earlier in the year, many Californians received the Golden State Stimulus 1 payment, which was either $600 or $1200. Qualifications for GSS I were as follows:

• Must have filed your 2020 taxes,

• Must be either a CalEITC recipient or an ITIN filer who made $75,000 or less in California Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) in 2020.

  • A CalEITC (or California Earned Income Tax Credit) recipient is someone who in 2020 had California AGI of $30,000 or less and does not use the married filing separately filing status.

  • An ITIN (or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) filer is a taxpayer who is not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number.

• Must have lived in California at least half of 2020 and are a California resident the date the payment is issued.

• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

GSS I recipients received $600 if they were either 1) an CalEITC recipient or 2) were an ITIN filer and made $75,000 or less in 2020 CA AGI (if filing jointly at least one taxpayer must use an ITIN).

GSS I recipients received $1,200 if they 1) were both a CalEITC recipient and an ITIN filer and made $75,000 CA AGI or less in 2020 or 2) filed a joint return, were CalEITC recipients, at least one was an ITIN filer and made $75,000 or less in 2020 CA AGI.

More information about GSS I on the Franchise Tax Board website at www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-i.html.

Golden State Stimulus II

The state expanded the program and started paying out additional stimulus payments in October, continuing through mid-January. The amount of these payments is either $500, $600, $1,000 or $1,100. Qualifications for GSS II are as follows:

• Must have filed your 2020 tax return by October 15, 2021.

• Have CA AGI of $1 to $75,000 and wages of $0 to $75,000 in 2020.

• Must have lived in California at least half of 2020 and are a California resident the date the payment is issued.

• Cannot be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

Here’s what you get if you qualify and have a SSN:

• $500 if you also qualified for GSS I and claimed a credit for 1 or more dependents.

• $600 if you did not qualify for GSS I and did not claim any dependents.

• $1,100 if you did not qualify for GSS I and claimed 1 or more dependents.

• $0 if you qualified for GSS I and did not claim any dependents.

Here’s what you get if you qualify and have an ITIN:

• $1,000 if you did qualify for GSS I and claimed 1 or more dependents.

• $0 if you did qualify for GSS I but did not claim and dependents.

More information about GSS II on the FTB website at www.ftb.ca.gov/about-ftb/newsroom/golden-state-stimulus/gss-ii.html.