California Golden State Stimulus IIPublic Service Bulletin

September 1, 2021

Purpose of bulletin

To announce that California will provide the Golden State Stimulus II (GSS II) payment to families and individuals who qualify.

Note: This payment is different than the Golden State Stimulus I (GSS I) payments.

Background

California will provide GSS II payments to qualified tax filers who:

  • Did not qualify for GSS I and meet the GSS II eligibility criteria, or
  • Met the GSS I or II criteria and claimed a credit for one or more dependents.

Payment will be:

  1. $500 payment to qualified recipients who file with a Social Security Number, qualified for GSS I, and claimed a credit for one or more dependents; or
  2. $600 payment to qualified recipients who file with a Social Security Number, did not qualify for GSS I, and did not claim a credit for one or more dependents; or
  3. $1,000 payment to qualified ITIN filers who qualified for GSS I and claimed a credit for one or more dependents; or
  4. $1,100 payment to qualified recipients who file with a Social Security Number, did not qualify for GSS I, and claimed a credit for one or more dependents.

Note: If you qualified for GSS I and did not claim a credit for one or more dependents, you do not qualify for a GSS II payment.

To qualify, recipients must:

  • File their 2020 taxes by October 15, 2021
  • Have a California Adjusted Gross Income (CA AGI) of $1 to $75,000 for the 2020 tax year. For this information refer to:
    • Line 17 on Form 540
    • Line 16 on Form 540 2EZ
  • Have wages of $0 to $75,000 for the 2020 tax year
  • Be a California resident for more than half of the 2020 tax year
  • Be a California resident on the date payment is issued
  • Not be able to be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer

Tax filers can estimate the GSS II payment by using the GSS II estimator on FTB’s website. Go to ftb.ca.gov and search golden state stimulus II estimator.

Additional Information

Taxpayer action needed:

  • No action is required to receive the stimulus payment for eligible recipients.
  • To ensure the taxpayer receives the stimulus payment, eligible complete tax returns should be filed by October 15, 2021.

Review the FTB’s Golden State Stimulus II webpages for more details regarding payments and timeframes.

If the tax filer received an advanced refund through their tax service provider or if their account requires further verification, they will receive the stimulus payment by check in the mail.

Offsets/Withholding:

  • The stimulus payment is not taxable for California state income tax purposes.
  • The stimulus payment will not be subject to offset for debts owed to Franchise Tax Board or other government agencies.
  • The Golden State Stimulus payments are not subject to withholding orders. Since the GSS payment is not considered wage earnings, it will not be garnished. However, if your Golden State Stimulus payment deposited to your financial institution has been levied (frozen), please contact us with the phone number provided by your financial institution or visit Withholding orders.

Taxpayer inquiries

Additional information is available at ftb.ca.gov/GoldenStateStimulus.

Contact FTB at 800-852-5711 Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm (excluding state holidays).

Allow 45 days beyond mailing timeframes to allow for processing before contacting FTB.