Middle Class Tax Refund counted as income for CalFresh? Benefits reduced after receiving it

the tax refund shouldnt count as income for calfresh!!! i got mine ($750) and my benefits stayed the same. sounds like the county made a mistake, you need to call them asap

Tax refunds, including the Middle Class Tax Refund, are considered non-recurring lump sum payments and are exempt from being counted as income for CalFresh purposes. The timing of your benefit reduction is likely coincidental and might be related to something else - perhaps a change in your reported income or deductions from your last reporting period, or possibly an error in their systems. You should definitely contact your county office to find out exactly why your benefits were reduced. Ask them to explain what changed in your eligibility calculation. If it was incorrectly counted as income, request a correction and restoration of any benefits you lost.

had this exact same issue last month!!! took me 4 DAYS of calling to finally get thru to someone at the county who could fix it. they admitted it was a 'system error' but wouldn't have fixed it if i hadn't kept calling. make sure u document everything!!!

I've been trying to reach my county office for weeks about a similar issue (different cause, but also unexpected benefit reduction). After getting disconnected multiple times, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get through. It basically holds your place in the phone queue and calls you back when a real person is about to answer. Saved me hours of waiting on hold! Their site is claimyr.com and they have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/eZ19FHRETv8?si=_CXnXqNXbLl26WB8 Once I got through, they fixed my issue in minutes. The actual problem took 5 minutes to resolve, but getting to a human was the hard part!

I work with CalFresh recipients regularly, and I can confirm that the Middle Class Tax Refund should NOT count as income for your CalFresh benefits. However, there are a few things that could have caused your benefit amount to change: 1. Did you report any changes in the past month (even informally)? 2. Did you have any change in your shelter costs or utility expenses? 3. Did you recently have an income verification that might have shown different income than previously calculated? 4. Are you approaching your recertification period? Regardless, you have the right to request a Notice of Action explaining any benefit change. If you didn't receive one, that's an issue itself. You also have the right to appeal the decision if you believe it's incorrect. I recommend calling your county office and specifically asking for a supervisor if the first person can't explain the change satisfactorily.

omg the exact same thing happened to my sister!! she got the tax refund and then her calfresh dropped by like $75! when she finally got someone on the phone they said it was a "system error" and fixed it, but it took her like 2 weeks to get the money back on her EBT card. definitely call them but be prepared to wait forever lol

Just want to clarify something important - if your income did increase (like from extra shifts), you may not need to report it until your SAR7 is due UNLESS it puts you over the Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). Check your last Notice of Action or eligibility letter - it should state your specific IRT amount. For a single-person household in 2025, the IRT is usually around $2,450 per month in gross income. If you went over that amount, you would need to report it within 10 days, even if your SAR7 isn't due yet.

wait so we NOT supposed to report the tax refund thingy on the SAR7?????? i already did on mine last month cuz i thought we had to report all money we get