AUGUSTA, Maine – Mainers can now check the status of their $850 relief checks using a new website from Maine Revenue Services.
More than 850,000 Mainers are eligible to receive the checks, with most payments set to go out by the end of July. But advocates are also working to ensure all eligible Mainers have filed 2021 tax returns, a necessary step to receive a check.
The one-time payments were the largest item in Gov. Janet Mills’ supplemental budget this year. The plan to return more than half the state’s budget surplus to residents was first floated by Republican lawmakers last fall and garnered bipartisan support. More recently, Mills has touted the checks as relief for Mainers amid high inflation.
Most Mainers should receive their checks in the next two months. While Maine Revenue Services expects to send roughly 200,000 checks per week each week in June, the agency also launched a new online tool for Mainers awaiting their payment to ensure they are eligible and see when their checks might arrive.
To see the status of your check, you will need to enter your Social Security number, your 2021 tax filer status and your federally adjusted gross income as reported on your 2021 state tax return. Tax filer status refers to whether you are single, married, head of household or a widow, and the federally adjusted gross income is on line 14 of the 1040-ME tax form that is used to file your state return.
If you do not have that information because you did not file 2021 taxes, you are still eligible for the $850 payment provided that you file your taxes by Oct. 31.
If you are eligible for a check, it will be mailed to your most recent address on file with Maine Revenue Services within a few weeks of processing. If you have moved since filing your taxes and need to update your address on record with the agency, you can submit updated address information by email to [email protected].
Eligibility for the payments is based on your total 2021 income. Individuals who earned up to $100,000 if single are eligible, or up to $200,000 if married and filing jointly or as a widow. Heads of household are eligible if they earned up to $150,000. Individuals who were claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return are not eligible.
The online tool is a way for Mainers to confirm they are eligible for a check. But unless residents have moved, the state does not need more information in order to process the checks. The attorney general’s office warned last month that scammers were seeking identifying information about Mainers under the pretense of needing information to process the checks. But Maine Revenue Services is not calling residents about the checks, nor is any other agency.
The online payment status tool is at portal.maine.gov/refundstatus/payment.
