Where’s my Middle Class Tax Refund? Readers share their ‘endless loop of futility’

For those still waiting on a Middle Class Tax Refund, the state is preparing nearly half a million direct deposits in the coming days, the Franchise Tax Board said Thursday.

As the clock winds down on the bulk of the MCTR distribution, many people are still wondering “where’s my rebate?”

Since October, the FTB has sent 7,020,930 direct deposits to qualifying taxpayers. Another 9,112,953 debit cards have been sent by mail through a third-party vendor. Nearly $9 billion (specifically, $8,793,299,700) in refunds had been delivered as of Dec. 30, FTB’s website says.

By the time the program wraps up, the state will have sent $9.5 billion in inflation relief payments to roughly 18 million California taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes of less than $500,000. Payments range from $200 for certain high-income earners all the way up to $1,050 for two-filing households with a qualifying dependent.

The agency has stated previously that most of the MCTR payments would be delivered by mid-January, but there is a catch. (More on that below.) In the meantime, readers have been sharing with us their efforts to track down payments.

Lucie Hostalek put her quest in very succinct terms on Thursday, calling it “an endless loop of futility.”

“My relatives have all received theirs,” she wrote via email. This is “government at its worst!”

She expected a direct deposit in November, based on the Franchise Tax Board distribution criteria. Is she a qualifying taxpayer? Yes. Did she file her 2020 return electronically and choose direct deposit for her tax refund? For sure. Any change in address or bank? Nope.

Still, she’s got nada.

Hostalek told us her ongoing struggle to reach a human being (and not an endless phone tree of options) finally met with some results Thursday.

“I was able to get a person on the line who shared that the lines are so busy — hence the endless loop,” she wrote. “Later, I figured out how to get to the representative: Press 4, then 9 and then say “representative.” She noted that if you press anything else, you’ll get the endless loop … She eventually hit a wall when the system told her, “please try your call later.”

And so Hostalek’s quest continues.

Whoops, we goofed?

It seems our efforts to help taxpayers find their payment by using the FTB website might have caused a new problem: A tax-line traffic jam.

Andrew LePage, the media liaison at the agency, told us that the chat option at MyFTB.com has seen a significant increase in users.

“We’re aware of a high number of inquiries to MyFTB chat this week, and we understand it’s frustrating,” he wrote.

“Part of the reason is that many people are calling with very basic questions covered on the FTB or Money Network MCTR websites — on top of the usual tax-related questions we get,” LePage said. “However, we are also aware that some people have fully reviewed the eligibility and other online information and want to know why they haven’t received a payment, as our payment schedule would suggest.”

LePage pointed out that some payments require more scrutiny from the agency, and because of that, those payments “will be issued beyond the timeframes in the FTB schedule, which was meant to apply to most recipients.”

“Next week, many of the remaining direct deposits – about 460,000 – are scheduled to be issued,” he said.

Payments for those extraordinary circumstances or for those who changed addresses since filing their 2020 return should land by Feb. 14.

A voice but no answers

Guy Ball in Tustin also has been flummoxed by the MCTR holdup.

“In our case, we’ve not moved in 30 years, so it’s not like the FTB has a different address or bank data from us,” he wrote Thursday. “And I vaguely remember the first stimulus check in 2020/2021 that came through just as expected.”

After working through the FTB automated phone tree and after a 42-minute wait, Ball was connected to a representative named Vivian. She told Ball there might have been a problem with his direct deposit refund, so he should expect a debit card instead.

Here’s when Ball got stuck in his own endless loop of futility …

“I asked if she would check to see if that’s what will happen and she said, ‘sure.’ She took my name and put me on hold. After a minute, I was connected to an automated response asking for the last six digits of my Social Security number. I keyed that in, and the message reported that no payment has been made, and if I don’t get a debit card by Jan. 31 to call back.”

Ball believes he was forwarded to the Money Network call center (800-240-0223) which handles the MCTR debit cards.

He ended his email with some stinging words for the government.

“Sometimes state bureaucracies work well and somethings they really stink. I can only imagine what this failed system is costing us taxpayers – and how much these overwhelmed companies with political connections are making, regardless of their incompetence.”

Success, at last

A Huntington Beach reader shared a rare MCTR success story with us. He asked that we not use his name for security and privacy reasons.

Our Surf City reader said he waited on hold for about 15 minutes before an agent joined the call and verified his information.

“She said I do qualify for the Middle Class Tax Refund and gave me an estimate. She did not know when my refund was processed but did say, ‘This issue has been common, where some accounts do not show an update in regards to the Middle Class Tax Refund.’

He was told to wait two to four weeks for further review and processing.

Our reader also wanted to point out that the “chat works if you are patient and the agent can be very helpful once you get through. “

His tip: call early.

Some tips for MCTR recipients

Do your homework: Go to the FTB website at ftb.ca.gov and use a calculator on the MCTR page to see what you’re estimated payment will be.

About those debit cards: Don’t throw out your junk mail! The Golden Bear-stamped money cards are being sent out by New York Community Bank in nondescript white envelopes with a return address from Omaha, Nebraska.

Want a paper check instead? Decline the terms and conditions of the cardholder agreement, which sends the money back to the FTB, which will then issue a check.

Who can I call? The debit card customer line is 800-542-9332. The FTB notes that it’s important to listen to all options before choosing the correct one. (After listening to the initial message, which is about 2 minutes long, callers can press “9” for an agent.)

Still insist on spending time in the FTB phone tree? Call 1-800-852-5711.

Please keep us posted on your efforts. Email me at sgowen@scng.com.

Need more info? The state has set up a page at the FTB website where residents can check eligibility and how much they will receive.