Do I need to report tax refunds to CalWORKs? Worried about renewal impact

You don't need to worry about your tax refund affecting your CalWORKs benefits! Tax refunds are specifically EXEMPT from being counted as income for CalWORKs. This includes your regular refund, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and Child Tax Credit. None of it counts against your Cash Aid! You don't have to report it when you get it, and you don't need to wait to file your taxes because of your renewal. The workers don't automatically see your tax return information - the systems aren't connected like that. Just make sure you're reporting any actual income changes (like from a job) within 10 days if it puts you over your Income Reporting Threshold (IRT). But the refund itself is completely exempt.

u shud definitely tell them!! my cousin didnt report her refund last year and they hit her with an overpayment notice saying she was hiding income. took months to fix and she almost got cut off. better safe than sorry

Your tax refund is NOT counted as income for CalWORKs. It's specifically exempt! I know this because I asked my worker about this exact thing at my last redetermination interview. She said tax refunds, including EITC and Child Tax Credit, are completely exempt from being counted for CalWORKs eligibility. However, if you're also on CalFresh (food stamps), it gets a little more complicated. Regular tax refunds are exempt for CalFresh too, but if you keep the refund money for more than 12 months, then it could potentially be counted as a resource. But for CalWORKs, you're totally fine regardless. And no, CalWORKs workers cannot see your tax return information unless you provide it to them. The IRS doesn't share that data with county benefit workers.

Depends what ur refund is from!!! If its earned income tax credit thats 1 thing but regular refunds DO count!!!! My worker told me at my renewal last month that any money counts and i had to report my refund. ended up cutting my benefits for 2 months so BE CAREFUL what people tell u here

I had this EXACT problem last year! I was panicking about my tax refund right before my renewal. Ended up calling the CalWORKs office and waiting FOREVER to talk to someone. When I finally got through, they confirmed that tax refunds don't count as income and don't affect your eligibility. Btw, if you're ever struggling to get through to a real person at the CalWORKs office, I recently found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually calls the office for you and calls you back when they have a real person on the line. Saved me HOURS of waiting last week when I had a question about my Welfare to Work hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE

CalWORKs eligibility worker here. To clarify the official policy: 1. Tax refunds (including EITC, Child Tax Credit, etc.) are 100% EXEMPT from being counted as income for CalWORKs purposes. 2. You do NOT need to report receiving your tax refund to your CalWORKs worker. 3. When you complete your renewal paperwork (SAWS 2) or Semi-Annual Report (SAR 7), you do NOT need to list your tax refund as income. 4. CalWORKs workers do NOT have automatic access to your tax return information - we only know what you report. 5. There's no connection between when you file your taxes and your CalWORKs renewal - it's fine to file whenever you normally would. If you ever have questions about what needs to be reported, check your Income Reporting Threshold (IRT) letter, which shows the income level at which you MUST report within 10 days. But again, tax refunds are exempt and don't count toward this threshold. Hope this helps clear things up!

One thing no one has mentioned is that while tax refunds don't count for CalWORKs, if you have a large refund and keep a lot of it in your bank account, it MIGHT affect you at renewal time if it puts you over the resource/asset limit. CalWORKs has a $10,000 asset limit now (used to be much lower), so as long as your bank accounts don't go over that, you should be fine. Just something to be aware of!

i never report my refunds and never had problems. as long as u dont suddenly have like 10k in ur account when they check u should be fine. they got way 2 many cases to be checking everyone's taxes lol

Just wanted to add my experience here! I went through this same panic last year when I got my refund right before my renewal. I called my county office and they confirmed what everyone is saying - tax refunds are completely exempt and don't need to be reported. What really helped me was actually reading the CalWORKs handbook section on exempt income. It's all spelled out there if you want to see it in writing. The exemption covers ALL types of tax refunds - regular refunds, EITC, Child Tax Credit, everything. One tip: if you're still worried, you can always ask your worker to note in your case file that you asked about this and they confirmed refunds are exempt. That way there's documentation if any questions come up later. But honestly, this is such a standard rule that most workers know it by heart. Don't stress about it - file your taxes when you're ready and use that refund for whatever you need!

I'm so glad you asked this question because I was literally in the same boat last year! I was getting my first big tax refund with the Child Tax Credit and was terrified it would mess up my benefits. Just to echo what everyone else is saying - you are 100% safe. Tax refunds are completely exempt from CalWORKs income calculations. I ended up getting almost $5,000 back and it didn't affect my benefits at all. My worker actually rolled her eyes a little when I asked about it because apparently this is one of the most common questions they get during tax season! The key thing that gave me peace of mind was learning that the exemption isn't just some loophole - it's specifically written into the program rules because lawmakers recognize that tax refunds are basically your own money being returned to you, not new income. Don't let the stress of this keep you from filing your taxes on time. File when you're ready, use that money for whatever you and your kids need, and don't worry about your CalWORKs renewal. The two things are completely separate!