The GTA$ 425,000 tax rebate that was announced alongside Tiny Racers last month has started rolling out. While some players have received their GTA$ 425K as expected, others have seemingly only received the random money rewards that pop up occasionally for now.
The average, and most common, "random amount" seems to be GTA$ 250K, however some players have received significantly more or less. Some have received the bonus several times, racking up millions in free cash, while others haven't been given a penny.
A handful of theories have popped up as to what could govern how these handouts are distributed. Some gamers believe that the algorithm rewards long time players for their loyalty. However relatively new players sometimes get hit with the bonus several times, while day-one veterans haven't seen it once. Another theory is frequent players who rack up a lot of game-time are rewarded, but the same outliers popped up: some who barely log in get the money, while those who play GTA Online day and night get nothing.
It's most likely that the algorithm is more complex — if you've been playing for a long time, it rewards you; if not, it gives you the incentive to come back. Toss in a good measure of random generation and you might get something that resembles the payout system.
And then comes the tax rebates. When you're awarded the rebate amount, you're greeted with a different screen than the standard random money reward. Instead of the separate, black background with "Alert" plastered over it (the default format used for money correction, RP correction, and bans), the tax rebate is indicated through a loading screen message.
In some cases, at least. Screenshots of the message in question have been making the rounds, however some players report getting the standard message with the GTA$ 425,000 amount — an amount which hasn't appeared previously as a random reward, indicating that this is the tax rebate in question.
If nothing else, there's no reason to worry if you made sure to login to GTA Online between the 25th and 30th of April but haven't received the tax rebate yet. The rebates don't roll out simultaneously and Rockstar has indicated that they will be sent out over the course of a week, meaning there is still time for you to get your money, just be patient. Heck — you might even end up getting more than GTA$ 425,000!
On the other hand, in relation to the ongoing random handouts, it's unlikely that we'll ever find out the exact algorithm that controls who gets how much and when, but at the end of the day, it's free money. At least you've got a little extra to put towards the preparatory gunrunning stash that everyone should be grinding for.
