Millions of families across the country will receive the second half of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) when they file their 2021 taxes during the current filing season. In addition, many others may be eligible to receive the full credit now if they did not receive advance payments in 2021. Multiple studies and recent data have confirmed the economic benefits of the expanded CTC, which is credited with lowering child poverty levels by 30%.
The CTC expansion included in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, was one of the largest-ever single-year tax cuts for families with children. It made the CTC fully refundable and dramatically increased the value of the credit from $2,000 per child to up to $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 per child between ages 6 and 17, enabling many previously ineligible low-income families to receive the full credit and putting money in the pockets of working families to pay for household expenses.
As part of the expansion, half of the CTC was distributed in advance via monthly payments, helping families meet their financial needs in real time. Qualifying families received monthly checks from July through December 2021 with over 36 million families that include more than 61 million children receiving a total of nearly $93 billion in advance CTC payments. To receive the rest of the credit, families must submit their 2021 tax returns in the current filing season. Qualifying families who did not receive advance payments must submit their 2021 tax returns to receive the full credit.
For more information or to see if you qualify for the expanded Child Tax Credit, click here.
