Christmas relief checks worth up to $800 going to more than a million Americans – how to track yours

Tax refund checks were mailed to over 1 million Americans just in time for Christmas.

The checks went to South Carolina residents and have a value of up to $800 for taxpayers who filed their 2021 tax returns by October.

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The South Carolina Department of Treasury (SCDOR) has completed sending relief checks totaling $942 million.

Meanwhile, nearly 1.4 million South Carolina residents have received rebates in the form of paper checks or direct deposits.

“I am pleased to announce that all eligible discounts in the first group have been completed and we have successfully issued more than 1.39 million discounts just in time for Christmas.

“I am extremely grateful to our SCDOR staff and our partners in the State Treasurer’s Office, who helped complete this enormous task on time and smoothly,” said Hartley Powell, Director of SCDOR.

Some eligible taxpayers may experience delays in receiving their refunds as it depends on different banks and the shipping process.

Individuals who filed their 2021 taxes by October 17, 2022 or February 15, 2023 can expect to receive their relief check by March 2023.

How was your discount calculated?

The amount of the rebate depends on an individual’s 2021 tax liability.

Simply put, the tax liability is what’s left over, minus your individual income tax credits, that you owe.

To calculate your rebate, you will need your 2021 South Carolina individual income tax return. Once you have it you can check if you have an amount on line 10.

If there is no amount, you are not entitled to a refund as you are not a tax resident.

If you have an amount, you can calculate your liability by adding your refundable credits, which can be found on lines 21 and 22.

Next, subtract the amounts from lines 21 and 22 from line 15, and if the amount is greater than $1, you’re eligible for a rebate.

Legislation has capped the rebate amount at $800. So if your tax liability is less than $800, that’s the amount of your rebate.

Even if your tax liability is more than $800, you still get $800 for the refund because that’s the maximum you can get.

Keep in mind that if you have an outstanding individual income tax bill with the SCDOR, you may receive less than the calculated refund amount.

The SCDOR sent a notice to affected taxpayers about their individual income tax refund adjustment.

How to check your discount status

You can check the status of your South Carolina tax refund website.

For people who received their 2021 refund via direct deposit, the SCDOR used the same bank information to issue the refund.

Paper checks were issued if you changed your bank details by November 1st.

Paper checks have also been sent to people who received their 2021 refund by debit card or paper cheque.

Other states with discounts

Many states are introducing a cash boost for residents moving into the New Year.

More than 20 million Californians are expected to receive a rebate ranging from $200 to $1,050 by January 2023.

Californians were eligible to receive the payments if they filed their 2020 tax returns by October 15, 2021.

Up to $750 worth of tax refunds are pending for people in Colorado filed on Oct. 17.

However, joint applicants are expected to receive a whopping $1,500 civil servants.

In Idaho, nearly 800,000 rebates worth up to $600 will be mailed statewide through the end of March 2023.

Read about New Jersey residents receiving up to $1,500 in real estate rebates.

In other direct pay news, California healthcare workers could earn $1,000 in bonuses in January.