What the state giveth, the federal government taketh away.
Qualifying 蜜柚直播 families have gotten deposits of up to $750 in their bank accounts because of a rebate plan demanded by some Republican lawmakers last year as part of a state budget deal.
But the state Department of Revenue said Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Services has informed it those funds are subject to federal income taxes. That means recipients will have to give back some of what they just got when they file their 2023 tax returns later this year.
How much depends on a variety of factors.
It starts with how much someone got.
The deal inserted into the state budget by the Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative lawmakers, provided a one-time tax credit of $250 for each child younger than 17, and $100 for dependents 17 and older 鈥 with no age limit 鈥 though the number of credits is limited to three dependents. About 750,000 families were eligible.
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Then there鈥檚 the federal tax bracket.
There are seven brackets, ranging from 10% for individuals with a federally adjusted gross income of up to $11,000 鈥 or double that for married couples filing jointly 鈥 to 37% for those making $578,126 or more.
So, everything else being equal, someone getting a $500 rebate whose income is in the 22% bracket 鈥 from $44,726 to $95,375 for individuals 鈥 will be giving back $110 to Uncle Sam.
The state is issuing a 1099-MISC form, with the amount of the rebate, to those who got either the direct deposits or the checks.
A copy of that form goes to the IRS. So not including the amount on your 2023 tax returns due in April could result in some unwelcome correspondence from the feds.
One complicating issue for some taxpayers is that the Department of Revenue is not mailing out those forms. Instead, taxpayers who got a rebate will have to either go to the department鈥檚 website or check their bank statements to figure out how much to report.
And for those who may lack computer savvy, department spokeswoman Rebecca Wilder said they can contact the Department of Revenue directly to get the information.
While the IRS wants its cut, the state isn鈥檛 planning to claw back a share: The state budget plan that includes the rebate specifically exempted the proceeds from state taxes.
That, however, will require taxpayers to do an extra calculation.
State tax returns all start with the federal adjusted gross income, which will include the rebate money.
So recipients will have to deduct those dollars when coming up with their state adjusted gross income, the amount against which the state income tax is computed.
Republican lawmakers are not reacting well to the IRS determination, with Senate President Warren Petersen calling it an example of the Biden administration showing 鈥渉ow little they care about 蜜柚直播 families who are struggling to make ends meet.鈥欌
But, politics aside, Petersen said there鈥檚 a legal issue.
鈥淢ore than a dozen states issued similar payments to their citizens in 2022 that the IRS determined would be excluded from federal income tax,鈥欌 he said. Petersen said he wants the Department of Revenue and 蜜柚直播鈥檚 attorney general 鈥渢o fight this attack on 蜜柚直播 families from the money hungry federal government.鈥欌
Not everyone with dependents got the rebate.
Only those who claimed a dependent tax credit on their 2021 full-year 蜜柚直播 resident individual income tax returns were eligible. They also would have had to have paid at least $1 of 蜜柚直播 individual income tax on that 2021 return or paid at least $1 in 2019 or 2020 under the same filing status as their 2021 return.
That means someone who claimed a dependent in either 2019 or 2020 but not in 2021 because the child had left home is ineligible.
Howard Fischer is a veteran journalist who has been reporting since 1970 and covering state politics and the Legislature since 1982. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Threads at @azcapmedia or email azcapmedia@gmail.com.