Monthly Child Tax Credit: how to claim the 2021 credit if it has not arrived?
While the Child Tax Credit has expired, if you file your taxes in time and were eligible to receive it at a point in the last year then you can get it.
Eligibility for the expanded Child Tax Credit was based upon the recipient’s adjusted gross income (AGI). Individuals with an AGI of less than $75,000, or married couples with a combined AGI of less than $150,000, were entitled to receive the full amount from the Child Tax Credit.
The scheme was expected to cut child poverty by 40 percent over five years, but was first reduced to justone extra year then scrapped altogether. Democrat Senator Joe Manchin has made it his endeavour to frustrate the Democrat party on Capitol Hill and no serious legislation has been passed in months. In fact, the end of the expanded Child Tax Credit has coincided with an increase in child poverty.
While the long term future for the credit is looking bleak, the good news is that there is still time, albeit a short window, to receive money that you are owed. If you were eligible for the funding based on your salary at any point in the last year then you are likely to be on the receiving end of a healthy tax refund.
I didn’t receive any monthly Child Tax payments last year but I think I was eligible, what happens?
If you had opted out of the monthly payments, or not filed your taxes in 2021 or 2020, then you need not worry; if you were eligible at a point in the last year and have no outstanding tax bills then you should receive a refund from the IRS. This could be up to $3,600 per child, depending on their age and your earnings.
In related news: Earned income tax credit up to $6,728
All you need to do is file your taxes before the deadline of April 18 2022 and the IRS will give you a refund of all the money you would be eligible for. In fact, it could put you in a more advantageous position compared to some who received the monthly payments, as by receving the money as a lump sum you don’t risk having the IRS demand your money back.
Some who were eligilbe to receive the funds with their 2021 tax return may have received a pay bump during the rollout of the Child Tax Credit. If so, this will be taken away as an extra tax by the IRS come the issuing of tax refunds and deductions.