December 15th, 2021 marked the last deposit date for the child tax credit payment expanded under the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Though many had hoped the program would be continued, political leaders are struggling to find a way forward that makes the majority of Congress happy, and as a result, many families have been left waiting and wondering what will come next.
Early in 2021 Congress passed the American Rescue Plan which included a provision that increased the child tax credit amount and upped the age limit of eligible children. Normally, the credit was $2,000 per eligible child under age 17. For the 2021 tax year the American Rescue Plan increased the credit to $3,000 for each child under age 18 and to $3,600 for children under age 6 at the end of the year.
Even though the benefit of a tax credit traditionally isn’t available until after the tax return for the year has been filed, for 2021 the new tax law included a provision to get the credit benefit into the hands of taxpayers as quickly as possible and charged the Secretary of the Treasury with establishing an advance payment plan. Under this mandate, those qualifying for the credit would receive monthly payments starting in July equal to 1⁄12 of the amount the IRS estimated the taxpayer would be entitled to by using the information on the 2020 return. If the 2020 return had not been filed or processed yet by the IRS, the 2019 information was to be used.
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