Yahoo Movies Child Tax Credit Payments Will Start Hitting Accounts on July 15 — What You Need to Know
The first monthly payment of the newly expanded child tax credit will start hitting bank accounts on Thursday, officials said.
The Internal Revenue Service had previously revealed hopes that the system would be up and running by July, and in a press release in May, the agency confirmed that about 39 million households will start receiving their monthly payments on the 15th of each month from July to December, so long as the date does not fall on a weekend or holiday.
The release said that the IRS projects the payments will lift more than 5 million children out of poverty this year, and will cut child poverty by more than half.
Families who want to check if they're enrolled — or who want to unenroll or update their account information — can do so at the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
Eligible families will receive a payment of up to $300 per month for each child under the age of 6, and up to $250 per month for kids older than 6 as part of the plan, which was expanded as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Joe Biden in March.
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The plan upped the maximum child tax credit to $3,600 for kids under 6, and $3,000 per child for kids ages 6 to 17.
Biden said in a statement that the tax relief checks will come automatically for 90 percent of eligible families.
"While the American Rescue Plan provides for this vital tax relief to hard working families for this year, Congress must pass the American Families Plan to ensure that working families will be able to count on this relief for years to come," Biden said. "For working families with children, this tax cut sends a clear message: help is here."
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Payments are normally given annually as tax refunds, but will now be distributed monthly. Tax credits are amounts that taxpayers can subtract directly from any taxes owed, and the child tax credit has traditionally given eligible parents a $2,000 annual credit for each child under 17 years old.
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The new plan increases not only the amount families can receive and the age limit of eligible children, but it also waives the $2,500 earning requirement for parents or caregivers, so that those who are not employed can still benefit.
"Before, the credit was timed to the tax system — file your taxes by April 15, the government sends you a check in six-eight weeks, if it owes you something," Lisa Gennetian, a professor of early learning policy studies at Duke University, previously told PEOPLE. "Now, the money can be distributed as monthly advance beginning in July."
Those now eligible for the expanded tax credit include single-filers making up to $75,000 annually, heads of household making $112,500 annually and married couples filing jointly who make $150,000 annually.
After that income cutoff, the expanded credit begins to phase out in increments as income increases. Those making up to $200,000 remain eligible for the original $2,000 credit.
