The state of New York has started a direct money relief program called Inflation Refund Checks. This is part of the enacted New York State Budget for Fiscal Year 2026, which Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law in May 2025. The program aims to lessen the effect of inflation on state residents by giving direct payments to around 8 million people.
The total FY 2026 budget is about $254 billion, up 5.3% from the last fiscal year. This financial plan gives priority to a few key areas, including affordability, public schools, health care, housing, public safety, and, of course, the inflation refund stimulus checks.
NY inflation stimulus checks amounts explained
Official state government announcements, as of September 2, 2025, give the framework for the Inflation Refund Checks program and other budget measures. The information put out describes how the checks will be handed out, who is eligible, and how much will be paid based on set income brackets.
The program is part of a bigger effort of fiscal policy that plans to give back more than $5 billion to taxpayers through various credits and rebates. The checks will be put out later in 2025. State officials have said there is no need to apply for the checks.
The checks will be automatically paid out using info on each person’s state tax returns filed for the 2023 tax year. This is meant to speed up the process and get the money to qualified households in New York fast.
Do I need To apply for the NY tax rebate?
The Inflation Refund Checks are a one-time payment to help New Yorkers who face a high cost of living. The checks will actually go out in the mail to each person starting in mid-October 2025. They will keep going out over several weeks because of the large amount of checks to send. The rules for who will get the checks are clear.
The plan is an automatic refund, meaning no action is needed from those who qualify, other than they filed their 2023 state income tax return. The number of people who will get the checks is expected to be more than 8.2 million households across the state. This includes about 1.25 million households on Long Island.
People qualify if they meet three basic rules. They had to have filed a New York State income tax return in 2023. They had to have been a legal resident of New York State for all of 2023. And, they had to have met the income limits set for the program. The state’s Department of Taxation and Finance will do everything on its own.
Payment amounts: how much to expect
How much each Inflation Refund Check is worth depends on two things. It depends on the kind of tax return filed with the 2023 return and the amount of gross income that was adjusted for that year. The amount of income a person had (their income range) in 2023 is what determines how much they will be paid.
There are set income limits and the amounts paid are based on those limits. People filing as single or as individual will get $200 if they had an AGI of $75,000 or less. They will get $150 if they had an AGI of $75,001-150,000. Those married and filing jointly will get $400 if their AGI was $150,000 or less.
They will get $300 if their AGI was $150,001-300,000. These amounts, as shown in the announcements from the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and the Governor’s office, are not taxed by the federal or state income taxes. The checks are meant to give direct help for the long-lasting affordability issues.
Other initiatives in New York’s FY 2026 budget
In addition to the direct Inflation Refund Checks, the FY 2026 budget has a bigger set of money actions. One big part is tax cuts. There will be a cut in the tax rates in the first five brackets, of 0.2 percent, for two years.
This plan is meant to help middle-class taxpayers. The whole affordability package, which includes more Child Tax Credit, will give families more than $5 billion in projected tax savings. Another key is affordable child care.
The budget has set aside $2.2 billion to increase access to subsidized child care programs. This money is meant to cut the cost of working families across the state. This move is part of a bigger plan to get people working and moving forward by removing a big expense.
The passed budget puts a record of $37.6 billion in help for P-12 public schools for the 2025-2026 school year. This is the most aid the state has ever given. At the same time, the budget expands free school meal programs so every student gets a meal for free.
A separate plan will make free community college programs for adults getting degrees in high-demand fields, removing tuition. In health care, the budget says the overall Medicaid budget will go up by 9 percent. It will get to the highest level it has ever been. This does not include about $1.2 billion in virtual spending.
It also commits a large chunk of money to mental health care. The money will be used to make sure there is care for people with serious mental illnesses and to put in place new support programs across the state.
