The Child Tax Credit

The Child Tax Credit is part of the American Rescue Plan and aims to help families raising children make ends meet. Experts estimate the new Child Tax Credit has the potential to cut child poverty in half.  

Who is eligible for the child tax credit?  

Starting on July 15 and through the rest of the calendar year, payments will be made monthly at $250 per child between 6-17 years old or $300 per child under 6 years old. All working families will get the full credit if they make up to $150,000 for a couple or $112,500 for a family with a single parent (also called head of household). 

What do families need to do to receive payments?  

If families filed their 2020 taxes this year or filed 2019 taxes last year, or used the IRS “Non-Filer Portal” to get a stimulus check last year, they don’t need to do anything. If they didn’t file taxes in the last 2 years they can use the IRS Non-Filer tool. 

Resources:

• ChildTaxCredit.gov | This is a one-stop-shop for information about the CTC. 

• IRS Non-Filer Tool | The IRS portal allows people who are not automatically enrolled in the CTC to sign up for the CTC and any economic impact payments they may have missed, even if they are not applying for the CTC. Someone not filing for CTC can still file just for the economic impact payments through the non-filer sign-up tool.  

• Q&A About the Advance Child Tax Credit Payments 

• ZIP Code-Level Data on Eligible Non-filers from the U.S. Department of the Treasury