Voice of the consumer: CashBack checks arrive this week for many Coloradans

Our 11 News Call For Action team pens a weekly column for our news partner The Gazette. Previous columns can be found here.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - This week, many Coloradans will get their Colorado CashBack check from the state.

I talked one on one with Gov.r Jared Polis about the initiative and how he thinks the state is handling the current economy. You may have seen this exclusive interview during 11 News at Noon on KKTV.

Polis signed a bill in May to send taxpayers an early TABOR refund. He said most taxpayers will get their check this week.

“I’m excited to say the checks are in the mail! Now, some are in the mail, they’re going in the mail over the next week. Now, if you get them the week after, certainly don’t panic. What we’re telling folks, especially if you have mail forwarding or something like that, don’t get worried about it unless you don’t get it in August. If it gets to September and you haven’t gotten it, you’ll want to go to ColoradoCashBack.com and make sure you can address whatever the issue is.”

To receive your check, you had to have filed your Colorado state income tax return by the end of June. Under the tax rebate, individual filers will get $750, and joint filers will get $1,500. The governor said he wanted to send the money out now to help Coloradans with rising prices.

“These are tax refunds that were due a year later. We did it because of rising prices, gas prices, grocery prices — we’re all experiencing this and we said, ‘Why should the government sit on your money for a year? Let’s get it back quick, easy, as quick as possible,” Polis said. “Everybody who filed for 2021 will automatically get this check. Now, if you haven’t filed for 2021, because you have an extension, or you didn’t have any income to declare, you don’t lose out on this.

“This is very important: As long as you file for 2021 by Oct. 17, you will get your refund check. You’ll get it by Christmas, if you haven’t filed. So 90%-plus of filers file on time, in April, it’ll be automatic, but for the other 10% that have extensions or even if they don’t have extensions, maybe they had zero income to file: Yes, you can file and you will get your check by the end of the year.”

With inflation at a 40-year high, some experts are worried about a potential looming recession. I asked the governor how Colorado would handle that if it does happen.

“The only thing certain is uncertainty. When you talk to five economists, you get 10 opinions, and so there’s enormous spread — everything from ‘we’re going to have a strong period of economic growth’ to ‘we’re in a recession’ or ‘we’re heading towards a recession.’ So we are preparing for all contingencies,” Polis said.

“We have record state reserves. We have the biggest rainy day funding in the history of Colorado. We hope that we don’t need to use that or deploy that in the next year or two, but it’s good to know and Coloradans can be assured in knowing that we do have the largest reserve fund that Colorado has ever had.”

The Colorado CashBack checks are being sent to your mailing address. If you need to update your address, you need to reach out to the state. You can find out more details on how to do that and also read the frequently asked questions about the program. Just head to the state’s website, ColoradoCashBack.com.

Click here to read the original column on gazette.com.