The IRS says the $850 relief checks Mainers received are not subject to federal taxes.

The agency made the announcement Friday, after telling taxpayers to hold off on filing their returns until the determination could be made.

Two lawmakers who helped negotiate the relief checks, which were sent out to help Mainers deal with high inflation, told the Portland Press Herald that state officials had assured them the payments would be tax free. But Maine Revenue Service Associate Tax Commissioner Michael Allen says no assurances to lawmakers were ever made.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills pressed for the $850 pandemic relief checks last year for most Mainers to help make ends meet as a historic budget surplus ballooned.

Her administration designed the relief program to conform with federal tax code to avoid being subject to federal taxes or included in federal adjusted gross income calculations, Sharon Huntley, spokesperson for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, said Friday.

More than 100,000 returns had already been filed in the state as of Thursday.