$3000/$3600 Child Tax Credit eligibility: Who is getting it? How to know if I qualify
Hours before the first batch of Child Tax Credits are made, families are still trying to find out if they are eligible, and how much they could receive.
Systems are a go at the IRS to begin distributing the first payment of the Child Tax Credit.
Families should begin to receive their checks through direct deposit on 15 July or shortly after if the tax authority sent them a physical check. This new distribution structure is new and was implemented after the passage of the American Rescue Plan. Rather than receiving the credit with a tax refund, families will be paid monthly through December. The remaining balance of the credit will be claimed when taxes are filed next year.
According to a poll taken in early June by the Hill, making the changes to the credit’s structure permanent holds support among about half of voters in the United States.
Axios has reported that the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package put together by Democrats will include an extension to the credit’s current structure.
This was advocated by President Biden, who cited experts saying the revamped credit “could contribute to cutting child poverty in half.” If the changes are not extended, many of these children and their families could slip back into poverty, which researchers have shown can have detrimental impacts on childhood development.
Families can expect payments for the credit on or around the 15th of each month. The total value of the credit for children under six is $3,600 ($300 a month), while for those between six and seventeen, the value is lower, $3,000 ($250 a month).
Who is eligible?
To receive the total value of the credit, households with the following tax filing status must make under the income limits listed:
- $75,000 or less for singles,
- $112,500 or less for heads of household, and
- $150,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return and qualified widows and widowers.
Those who make more will see a decrease of $50 of the credit for everyone $1,000 over the limit. The IRS’ Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant can be used to determine if a family will receive payments, and if so, how much. The new tool is now available in English and Spanish.
More on the Child Tax Credit
For those looking for other tax information in languages besides English, the IRS has published “A step-by-step guide to using the Non-filer Sign-up Tool (Publication 5538) in Spanish, Chinese Simplified, Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole and Russian; A basic YouTube video on the Advance Child Tax Credit in Spanish and Chinese, as well as English; E-posters in various languages; and Information about Free File in seven languages.”