Have you noticed a deposit in your bank account from the state this week? Well, good news - it's not a scam. In May, Gov. Brad Little signedhouse bill 380 which created the “2021 Idaho Tax Rebate Fund.”
The income tax relief will be sent out either via direct deposit or in mailed checks beginning next week as part of the state's tax relief package passed earlier this year. The refunds are a part of the "Building Idaho's Future" plan, which directs the state's surplus to tax relief and investing in keeping up with Idaho's growth.
"It's not for everyone. It's for everybody who was a resident for the full year of 2019-2020 and has filed those returns. That's actually something that was written into the law when it was passed,” Taxpayer Services Supervisor at the Idaho State Tax Commission Gordon Myers said.
The payments will go out to any full-year resident in 2019 and 2020 who filed an individual income tax return or a grocery credit refund, according to the tax rebate FAQ. The payments will be $50 per taxpayer and dependent or 9% of the tax amount reported on various forms.
“There's not a top number. We have some of these that are going out that are really pretty large. The bottom number is typically going to be for some who didn’t have any tax liability in 2019 and lives by themselves. They are going to get $50 for simply being on a return in 2019,” Myers said.
Related: Idaho ends fiscal year with record surplus
“Idaho's economy continues to blow past projections. We are leading the country in economic prosperity. This year, we achieved the single largest tax cut in state history! We’ve returned your tax dollars with our record budget surplus,” Gov. Brad Little said in a statement. “These tax cuts boost Idahoans' prosperity, and they keep our tax rates competitive and our business climate vibrant.”
The tax relief payments come from the state's largest income tax cut, with $445 million for Idaho families and businesses, including $163 million in permanent, ongoing income tax cuts, and $8 million in ongoing property tax cuts offset by the General Fund, according to a news release from Little's office.
"Most people will be getting checks. We tried to do direct deposit for as many as we can but we can't always confirm direct deposit information. We don't have direct deposit information for everybody and in a lot of cases, people use tax preparers to do their returns direct deposit information actually belongs to the preparer," Myers said.
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