Families can get this IRS payment even if they don’t have a job or if they don’t receive any income. But there’s only a few days left to sign up.
Some families who have not yet signed up for the monthly advance child tax credit payment still have a chance to get all the money they were due this year — up to $1,800 per child — in time for the holidays. But there’s a deadline coming up that they can’t miss.
Many families got the monthly child tax credit payments automatically since it was based on their 2020 tax returns. But some families, mostly those with incomes so low that they aren’t required to file taxes, may not have received the money yet.
The deadline is Monday, Nov. 15 for eligible people who haven’t received the payments to sign up at IRS.gov. If they sign up by then, the IRS said families should receive the entire amount they were due for 2021 in one lump-sum payment on Dec. 15. That’s $1,800 for each child under age 6 and $1,500 for each child ages 6-17. The other rest will come after tax filing season next year, just as it will for all eligible people.
The IRS reminds families that they can get the benefits even if they don’t have a job or if they don’t receive any income.
The total child tax credit was increased this year to $3,600 for kids under 6 and $3,000 for kids 6-17. For those parents who didn’t opt out, half the money was to come in monthly payments starting in July — $300 per month for each child in the lower age group and $250 for the older children. The rest will come after taxes are filed next spring.
The full child tax credit benefit is eligible for incomes up to $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married couples.
Nov. 15 is also the date the next monthly child tax credit payment will be sent out. Nov. 1 was the deadline to change income, banking or address information for that payment.
The final payment for 2021 will be Dec. 15, with a deadline of Nov. 29 to make changes for that installment.
Whether the monthly child tax credit continues into 2022 depends on Congress. It’s still in the Build Back Better reconciliation bill, but that bill is stalled in House negotiations.
