SAN ANTONIO – Another round of child tax credit payments from the Internal Revenue Service is set to hit accounts of qualifying families on Monday but for people who had a baby in 2021, there might not be any advance payments at all.
Nov. 15 and Dec. 15 are the last dates families who qualify for the advance child tax credit will receive monthly checks from the IRS.
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The child tax credit payments are a partial advance of the 2021 child tax credit made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act.
Qualifying families have been receiving monthly payments of up to $300 per child since July 15 as part of the advance tax credit but parents who added another child to their family in 2021 have been left waiting.
Initially, the IRS website said families will be able to make changes to their number of dependents in the summer. That messaging changed towards the end of the summer to say “August” and now the website states the option to update the number of dependents will be available in the “fall.”
Since Monday is the set date for the next round of payments, that leaves just one more opportunity for families who added to their brood in 2021 to cash in on the advance tax credit. The IRS has not announced whether this option is expected to be ready ahead of the December payout schedule.
Currently, families claiming the child tax credit for the 2021 tax year will receive up to $3,000 for each qualifying child ages 6-17 and $3,600 for children under age 6. The child tax credit was previously $2,000 for qualifying children under age 17.
The credit includes children who turn 17 years old in 2021 and is fully refundable, meaning taxpayers who don’t owe income tax or have any earned income can still benefit from the child tax credit.