Eight direct payments between $300 and $3,600 Americans can claim this Christmas – full eligibility criteria

THIS holiday season, millions of Americans can claim up to $3,600 worth of Direct Payments.

Some of this money is available at the federal level, while other cash is available at the local level.

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For example, some states and cities offer tax breaks to help residents offset high inflation.

Others may offer a relief payment in time for the big holiday.

But all of the scenarios we’ve compiled below require some sort of action – and there could be strict deadlines, so you might need to act quickly.

And remember, once you claim it, there’s no guarantee it will arrive before Christmas.

1. Chicago – $500

Chicago Residents now have a little more time to apply for $500 in cash through the Resiliency Fund 2.0 program.

It will now close on Saturday 31st December rather than the originally reported 9th December.

To be eligible, you must meet a few requirements.

Chicagoans must be over the age of 18 and have an income at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty line.

The income limit for a one-person household is $40,770.

In addition, one of the following must apply:

• Filed taxes in 2019 and claimed a dependent aged 17 or over
• An undocumented resident
• domestic worker

Anyone who feels qualified can apply on-line until December 31 at 5 p.m.

The program aims to give 25,500 Chicago residents a boost.

As soon as you have submitted your application, it will be subjected to a lottery procedure.

Payments will be managed no later than December 2023.

2. Hawaii – up to $300

Hawaii has been sending out discounts worth up to $300 since the beginning of fall.

Known as the Act 115 Refund, the first batch went from 100,000 in the week of September 12th.

To claim your discount, you must submit a 2021 tax return by December 31st.

It will arrive quicker if you opt for direct deposit, which takes up to 10 weeks for Hawaiians to receive.

Paper checks, on the other hand, take up to 12 weeks Tax Department.

So if you filed your taxes in September, October or November, you could probably still be waiting for your money to arrive.

To be eligible for a state reduction, you must have resided in Hawaii for at least nine months, not served time in prison for a “misdemeanor” in the 2021 tax year, or be claimed as a dependent.

3. Idaho – up to $600

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed legislation in September allocating $500 million in tax refunds to residents.

For individual taxpayers, taxpayers can expect payments as high as $300, while joint taxpayers will see checks for $600 or 10 percent of a taxpayer’s 2020 income taxes, whichever is greater.

Rebates are issued by the Tax Commission in the order in which it received the 2021 income tax returns.

The agency said about 75,000 will be sent weekly through March 2023.

To be eligible for a discount, tax returns must be filed by December 31st.

Those who qualify for the checks can now track their payment on-line.

Idahoans who were year-round residents of Idaho in 2020 and 2021 and filed an Idaho individual income tax return or Form 24 for those years are eligible for the rebates.

Non-residents and part-time residents are not eligible.

A year-round resident is someone who has lived in Idaho for the entire tax year.

4. New Jersey – up to $1,500

There are payments for more than two million homeowners and renters in New Jersey

They are worth up to $1,5000 and $450 respectively.

To be eligible for the Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) program, you must have owned or rented a home as of October 1, 2019, filed or be exempt from state taxes, and meet income requirements.

Here are the groups who are eligible for money based on income, according to the New Jersey Department of Treasury.

• Homeowners earning up to $150,000: $1,500
• Homeowners earning between $150,000 and $250,000: $1,000
• Renters earning up to $150,000: $450

Those who qualify must apply on-line until January 31, 2023.

And according to the Ministry of Finance, the payments should be made in the spring.

5. Pennsylvania – up to $1,658

Another property tax program is available in Pennsylvania — but the deadline is fast approaching.

The state’s rebate program benefits people age 65 and older, widows and widowers age 50 and older, and Americans with disabilities.

And Pennsylvanians must also meet the $35,000 annual income threshold for homeowners.

The limit for renters is $15,000

Eligible residents can expect payments of up to $650, although some eligible homeowners may also receive an additional rebate that increases theirs to a maximum of $975.

If an applicant has received the maximum rebate of $975 for claim year 2021, their one-time bonus rebate is $682.50 or 70 percent of the original rebate inclusive of the additional amount.

In this example, the claimant received a total of $1,657.50 for the 2021 tax year.

Gov. Tom Wolf warns you against it, however use so that your discounts are valid until December 31st.

Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians should receive checks by September 2022.

So far, the state has received more than 458,000 applications for rebates.

6. San Francisco – $1,200 per month

Next week, San Francisco, California will be bagging applications for its Guaranteed Income Program.

The payments are aimed at transgender residents and are valued at $1,200 per month.

They will date for a year and a half.

To be eligible, you must identify as either transgender, non-binary, intersex, or gender non-conforming.

Applicants must be at least 18 years old and live in San Francisco.

Also, they must be earning less than $600 per month at the time of their application.

Anyone who qualifies can apply online by transmitting personal data such as first name, telephone number and e-mail address.

You will also need a list of supporting documents, which may include:

Along with the information, you must be prepared to fill out one and new surveys every three months.

Applications must be submitted by December 15th.

A total of 55 people will be selected to participate.

7. Taxpayer Funds including CTC and Stimulus (Federal) – up to $3,600

Additionally, it’s worth noting that you may still be eligible for Federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) or a stimulus check.

Three rounds of economic stimulus rounds have been approved under both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Under the last, the checks were worth up to $1,400 each.

Americans earning less than $75,000 filing taxes as individuals and couples earning less than $150,000 are eligible for the full amount.

If income exceeds these thresholds, payments begin to phase out from $1,400.

Also included in the third stimulus package was the temporarily expanded CTC, which was worth a maximum of $3,600 in 2021.

Couples qualified for the full benefit if they earned less than $150.00, and single parents who register as heads of household were required to earn less than $112,500.

If you’re entitled to both, you may be able to claim both on your 2021 tax return if you haven’t already filed them.

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

However, the agency estimates that between nine and 10 million Americans are still owed stimulus checks.

In addition, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration recently revealed report that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) failed to send the CTC advance to 4.1 million households.

So it’s worth checking with a tax advisor to see if you might be owed money.

For more information on payments, see: 12 states that offer payments to parents.

And here is a list of states and cities that offer universal basic income.