Do I need to report California Middle Class Tax Refund on CalFresh? Will it affect my benefits?

omg same boat!! got mine in Feb ($750) and already used it for bills. nobody told me to report it! now im freaking out

Good news - the Middle Class Tax Refund is classified as a tax rebate/refund, which means it's EXEMPT income for CalFresh purposes. You don't need to report it on your SAR7, and it won't count against your resource limits or affect your benefit amount. This is considered a one-time payment that's excluded from both income and resource considerations for benefit calculations. Also, to clarify: you don't have to file taxes to receive the Middle Class Tax Refund if you received CalWORKs or SSI - the state used that information to determine eligibility. This is different from the federal tax filing requirements.

Not so fast everyone. My daughter got that rebate thing and then her CalFresh went down the next month!! They absolutely DO count it!! She had to appeal and everything.

when i got my refund i called my caseworker to ask about this exact thing and she said its not counted for calfresh. they treat it like the golden state stimulus from 2021 that wasnt counted either. but it took me like 3 days of calling to actually get someone on the phone!!

It's INSANE how unclear they make all this!!! 🤬 The county workers themselves don't even know half the time! I've been told different things by different workers in the SAME OFFICE! Why can't they just send out clear guidelines to everyone instead of making us hunt down information?? They WANT us to make mistakes so they can hit us with overpayments later!!!

Just to provide some additional clarity: the reason tax rebates and refunds like the Middle Class Tax Refund are excluded is because they're considered non-recurring lump-sum payments. According to CalFresh regulations, these types of payments are not counted as income. However, if you have more than $4,250 in resources (for households with elderly/disabled members) or $2,750 (for other households) for more than one SAR7 period, then it could potentially affect your eligibility. But since you mentioned you've already spent it on car repairs, it won't impact your resource limits. If you receive any official notice asking about it, just explain that it was a tax refund that's exempt and has already been spent.

my cousin works for calfresh in san diego county and she told me they got specific instructions not to count that tax refund thing for any benefits including calfresh. so your definitely fine dont worry about it