State rebate attribution

PolicyEngine attributes one-time state rebates to the tax year whose return determines eligibility and amount, even when checks arrive in a later calendar year. Rebates included in state credit totals reduce state_income_tax and increase household net income in that eligibility year. This attribution convention does not describe the payment calendar. Some standalone rebate formulas can calculate an amount after the rebate ends; use the dated credit total to establish whether that amount enters tax or net income. Do not add back every positive raw rebate column in every year. Massachusetts premium pay is also modeled through state refundable credits. A payment modeled solely as a benefit would affect household net income without reducing state income tax.

For comparison, restore only the rebate amounts that actually reduced that year’s reported state tax, including liability limits on nonrefundable credits. Ordinary recurring refundable credits remain part of liability. state_income_tax_before_refundable_credits removes those ordinary credits too, so it is not a pre-rebate liability measure. Colorado Cash Back and the residual TABOR sales tax refund are separate mechanisms; count each only through its stated aggregation path and eligibility year.

Inventory

The years below are eligibility tax years in which a qualifying household can receive a nonzero contribution to the state’s credit total. R denotes the state’s refundable-credit total; N denotes its nonrefundable-credit total. Every listed payment enters state tax through credits, including Colorado Cash Back and Massachusetts premium pay. None is a second, direct household benefit payment. Refundable totals enter both state tax and household refundable credits; nonrefundable totals reduce tax before refundable credits.

Rebate and variable(s)	Eligibility years included in state credit totals	Payment year	Aggregation and amount gate
Colorado residual TABOR sales tax refund: co_sales_tax_refund; helpers co_sales_tax_refund_eligible, co_sales_tax_refund_person_eligible	2015, 2021–2025, and 2027 onward under current parameters; zero in 2016–2020 and 2026	Following the eligibility return	R: co_refundable_credits. The formula multiplies the eligible-filer amount by sales_tax_refund.in_effect. This recurring residual mechanism is separate from Colorado Cash Back.
Colorado Cash Back: co_tabor_cash_back	2021 only	2022	R: co_refundable_credits, removed from the dated list in 2022. The amount is zero outside 2021.
Illinois income and property rebates: il_income_tax_rebate, il_property_tax_rebate; helpers il_income_tax_rebate_eligible, il_property_tax_rebate_eligible	2021 only	2022	R: il_refundable_credits, removed from the dated list in 2022. Income-rebate amounts and the property-rebate cap are zero before 2021.
New York inflation refund: ny_inflation_refund_credit	2023 only	2025	R: ny_refundable_credits. The variable has a 2023 formula and resets to zero in 2024.
Virginia rebates: va_rebate	2021, 2022, and 2024	2022, 2023, and 2025, respectively	N: va_non_refundable_credits, limited by available tax liability. Amounts are zero in other years.
Georgia surplus refund: ga_surplus_tax_rebate	2021 only	Later than the eligibility return	R: ga_refundable_credits. The O.C.G.A. 48-7-20.2 refund is capped at income tax before credits; the amount is zero outside 2021.
Arizona Families Tax Rebate: az_families_tax_rebate	2021 only	2023	R: az_refundable_credits. The dated list excludes it before 2021 and removes it in 2022, even when its standalone formula returns a positive amount.
New Mexico rebates: nm_2021_income_rebate, nm_additional_2021_income_rebate, nm_supplemental_2021_income_rebate	2021 only	Enacted in 2022 and 2023 for the 2021 return	R: nm_refundable_credits, removed from the dated list in 2022. All filing-status amount branches are zero before 2021. The supplemental variable combines two payments.
Connecticut child rebate: ct_child_tax_rebate	2021 only	2022	R: ct_refundable_credits. The amount and child cap are zero outside 2021. The model assumes full take-up and uses 2021 residence as a proxy for domicile at application in 2022.
Rhode Island child rebate: ri_child_tax_rebate; helper ri_child_tax_rebate_eligible	2021 only	2022	R: ri_refundable_credits. The amount is zero outside 2021; a true eligibility flag in another year does not imply a payment.
Hawaii Act 115 refund: hi_act_115_rebate	2021 only	2022	R: hi_refundable_credits, removed from the dated list in 2022. Both filing-status schedules are zero before 2021.
Maine relief payment: me_relief_rebate; helper me_relief_rebate_eligible	2021 only	2022	R: me_refundable_credits. The $850 amount is zero outside 2021; the eligibility flag alone does not imply a payment.
Massachusetts Chapter 62F refund: ma_taxpayer_refund_rebate	2021 only	2022	R: ma_refundable_credits. Only the 2021 dated list includes it, although its standalone rate persists.
Montana HB 192 income tax rebate: mt_income_tax_rebate (person level); supporting mt_income_tax_before_2021_rebate	2021 only	2023	R: mt_refundable_credits adds person-level amounts directly, outside the parameter list. The rebate is liability-capped once per return and zero outside 2021. The separate-versus-joint filing election is determined before the rebate by assumption.
South Carolina rebate: sc_2022_rebate	2021 only	2022	N: sc_non_refundable_credits. The rebate is capped at $800 and eligible liability; the amount is zero outside 2021.
Massachusetts essential employee premium pay: ma_covid_19_essential_employee_premium_pay_program (person level); input claimed_ma_covid_19_essential_employee_premium_pay_program_2020	2020 and 2021 only	Both modeled rounds paid in 2022	R: ma_refundable_credits. The two \(500 rounds use 2020 and 2021 earnings, respectively. The amount is zero before 2020 and from 2022. Set the prior-recipient input in 2021 to exclude a first-round recipient from the second round. The later \)250 third round is outside this inventory’s coverage.

The model’s first modeled year is 2015. Colorado’s 2015 amounts follow the 2015 DR 0104 table (Form 104, line 46); the refund is zero in 2016–2020, when it was not in effect. Colorado’s 2027–2029 tiers are the LCS September 2026 forecast’s projections, not published DR 0104 tables, and they stand in until the State Controller certifies each fiscal year’s surplus and CDOR publishes that year’s tiers in the DR 0104.

Standalone amounts and comparison measures

Illinois’s two rebates, New Mexico’s three rebates, and Hawaii’s Act 115 refund can return positive standalone amounts after 2021 because their schedules persist. Their historical guards make the amounts zero before 2021, and the dated credit totals exclude them after 2021. Arizona and Massachusetts Chapter 62F also have standalone formulas that can remain positive in other years, while their dated credit lists include them only in 2021.

Maine, Montana, South Carolina, Colorado Cash Back, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, New York, and Massachusetts premium pay have amount or formula end dates. Eligibility helpers and positive standalone amounts are not substitutes for checking the dated aggregation path and applied liability cap.

The TAXSIM validation comparison includes a rebate-adjusted metric. Its limitations and each program’s aggregation path matter when reconciling that metric with the reported state income tax.