Here's how to get your child tax credit if you are not getting automatic deposits
Image from whitehouse.gov.
By now, most of you with children are already receiving the automatic $250 or $300 in extra monthly deposits in Child Tax Credits to help with the straining costs of raising families.
But some households with children may be missing out and need help applying for the government relief.
Code for America has set up a simple online filing tool that can be completed on a smartphone even if you don’t have your tax documents. This tool will also allow you to receive federal stimulus payments that have also been provided as Covid-19 relief.
The tool can help households that for various reasons have not needed to file a federal income tax return — including not having enough income to require tax filing.
The only information required is a valid Social Security number for each child, and either a working email address or phone number.
If you have at least one qualifying child and earned less than $24,800 as a married couple, $18,650 as a head of household, or $12,400 as a single filer, you can use the sign-up tool to get the Child Tax Credit. You can also use the tool to receive missing stimulus payments, whether or not you have children.
Receiving the tax credit will not affect other benefits. The payments do not count as income for any family. So, signing up won’t affect your eligibility for other federal benefits like SNAP and WIC.
In total, the Child Tax Credit, provided through the American Rescue Plan, increased the federal aid from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child for children over the age of six and from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under the age of six, and raised the age limit from 16 to 17.
Anyone who filed tax returns for 2019 or 2020, or who signed up to receive a stimulus check from the Internal Revenue Service is receiving the tax relief automatically and does not need to take any action.