Monthly installments this year and a payment next year could total up to $3,600 per kid.
Sarah Tew/CNETMillions of families received their first child tax credit payment in July and are slated to receive their second around Aug. 13. If you meet all of the eligibility requirements, your advance monthly payments could be up to $300 for each kid under 6 years old and $250 for each kid between ages 6 and 17. So did you receive more or less than you should have in that first payment? By answering a few quick questions with our child tax credit calculator, you can check.
Remember, just for 2021, the IRS is sending half of each family's total estimated credits in six monthly installments through December. The remaining half of the credit will be calculated as part of your 2022 tax refund. The advance payments are based on the latest tax return processed (usually 2020, occasionally 2019). So if a family has different circumstances in 2021, like income or kids, the payments could be too much or too little for your next August check as well.
Your payments could also be smaller based on some complications with the eligibility rules this year or due to an IRS mistake. Families that don't need the cash upfront could also choose to opt out of the monthly payments and receive the credit as a lump sum applied to next year's taxes. Opting out could be one way to avoid problems with inaccurate payment amounts. We'll tell you how to sign up with the IRS to opt out and what to expect during tax season in 2022. This story gets updated regularly.
Watch this: Child tax credit: Everything we know
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Calculate your household's estimated child tax credit amount
Start by entering your adjusted gross income and number of kids. (Our calculator will not store or use your data.) The results are based on our current knowledge of the law and should be treated only as broad estimates; the IRS will determine the final amount. We suggest consulting a financial professional if you want a more personalized estimate.
Child tax credit calculator for 2021
Use details from your 2020 tax return.
1. Choose your filing status below.
The child tax credit math is somewhat involved this time around. Let's say the above calculator says that you will receive $3,500 in monthly payments from July through December 2021. That means you should take that total and divide by six to see how much the IRS will send you each month in advance this year.
Here are the basic rules. For parents of eligible children up to age 5, the IRS will pay up to $3,600 for each kid, half as six advance monthly payments and half as a 2021 tax credit. For each child aged 6 through 17, the IRS will pay up to $3,000, divided in the same way. For dependents aged 18 or full-time college students up through age 24, the IRS will make a one-time payment of $500 in 2022.
If your AGI is $75,000 or less as a single filer, $112,500 or less as a head of household or $150,000 or less filing jointly, you'll get the maximum amount. If your income is above the threshold for your filing status, your child tax credit payments will begin to phase out by $50 for every $1,000 of income over it. If the calculator above gives you a figure much less than $3,600 total for your 3-year-old, that probably means your household income is too high for the full payment.
Check the 2021 child tax credit payment schedule
The first child tax credit payment went out on July 15 and continues each month through the end of the year. Look for a payment on the 15th of each month, except for August's payment, which will be on Aug. 13. Here's a breakdown of when payments will be deposited and the maximum amount to expect based on the age brackets. Keep in mind that if you have dependents aged 18-24 you will have to wait until tax time next year to claim the full amount.
Timeline for child tax credit payments
| Monthly | Maximum payment (newborn to 5) | Maximum payment (6 to 17) | Maximum payment (18 to 24) |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 15, 2021: First payment of the year | $300 | $250 | - |
| Aug. 13, 2021 | $300 | $250 | - |
| Sept. 15, 2021 | $300 | $250 | - |
| Oct. 15, 2021 | $300 | $250 | - |
| Nov. 15, 2021 | $300 | $250 | - |
| Dec. 15, 2021: Last payment of the year | $300 | $250 | - |
| April 2022: Second half of payment | $1,800 | $1,500 | $500 |
Eligibility rules for dependents could affect your payments
There are some specific rules regarding qualifications not just for parents and caregivers, but for the children, too. Here's what to know about dependent qualifications for the child tax credit.
As for your child aging out of a payment bracket, the amount of the credit depends on the age of a child on Dec. 31 this year. So if you have a 5-year-old turning 6 before the end of 2021, the total payment amount you could get for that child is $3,000. If you have a 17-year-old who turns 18 before the end of 2021, you would receive $500 total for that dependent instead of $3,000. If you have a dependent who's a full-time college student and turns 25 this year, you won't receive any payment for that dependent.
Tell the IRS about your newborn to get a payment
Children born in 2021 make you eligible for the 2021 tax credit of $3,600 per child. (That's up to $7,200 for twins.) This is on top of payments for any other qualified child dependents you claim. However, the IRS might not have any information on your new dependents and couldn't include them in your estimated amount. The key to fixing this is to log on to the IRS Update Portal later in the summer when you'll be able to make changes to your number of qualifying dependents.
Here's our guide for parents of 2021 babies, including what parents of adopted infants should know.
Nonfiling families can register for tax credit payments
The IRS will automatically make the payments for those who filed their 2020 tax return or claimed dependents on their 2019 tax return. If you didn't submit your tax return, the IRS won't know to send you a payment (and also won't know if you've gained dependents since the last tax filing).
If you're a nonfiler and didn't file a tax return this year and don't plan to, the IRS has come up with an alternative. A new "Non-filer Sign-up tool" allows families who don't file taxes to submit an electronic form to let the IRS know how many kids they have and their ages -- including babies born in 2020 and 2021 -- so they can get the correct payment amount.
While the tool is intended to help low-income families enroll in the program, it has been criticized for not being entirely user-friendly. For example, it works better on a computer than a mobile device, and requires that you have access to an email address.
The next deadline to opt out of advance monthly child tax credit payments is Aug. 2.
Sarah Tew/CNETParents can unenroll from monthly payments to get one payout
If you're worried about your child tax credit advance payments possibly being for the wrong amounts and you'd rather get your 2021 child tax credit money as one large payment, you can unenroll from the monthly payments. That means that instead of receiving $300 per month for your 3-year-old (and the remainder of your money in 2022, for example), you'd wait until you filed your taxes in 2022 to claim the full $3,600. You can do that by setting up an account and managing your payments through the Update Portal.
To stop the advance payments, you need to unenroll three days before the first Thursday of the month. So if you want to opt out of that second payment on Aug. 13, you'll need to do so by the Aug. 2 deadline. Later on, that same IRS portal will allow people to check on the status of their payments and make updates to their information. Here's the monthly schedule to unenroll.
Child tax credit unenrollment deadline schedule
| Payment month | Unenrollment deadline | Payment date |
|---|---|---|
| July | June 28, 2021 | July 15, 2021 |
| August | Aug. 2, 2021 | Aug. 13, 2021 |
| September | Aug. 30, 2021 | Sept. 15, 2021 |
| October | Oct. 4, 2021 | Oct. 15, 2021 |
| November | Nov. 1, 2021 | Nov. 15, 2021 |
| December | Nov. 29, 2021 | Dec. 15, 2021 |
Only one parent in shared-custody situations gets the credit
If you share custody, only one parent can claim the monthly advance child tax credit payments. This may be a surprise for parents who were separated and received one stimulus payment each for their child. Parents should also be careful when claiming the child tax credit money because if the child is filed incorrectly, parents may have to repay some or all of the money.
Update your personal details to avoid tax issues in 2022
Your family's eligibility is determined in large part by your adjusted gross income from the latest information the IRS has on file. So what happens if you get a new job or start making more money in 2021? What happens if the payments have already gone out and you spent the money?
The IRS has a plan for this: You'll use the new Child Tax Credit Update Portal to update your information when that happens. If you need to make an adjustment, the IRS will lower the payment amounts you'd receive if your new income reaches the phaseout level, according to Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.
If you wait until 2022 to update your information when you file your taxes and you continue to receive the full amount based on your lower income, you will have to return the excess money on your 2021 tax return next spring, or else accept a smaller 2021 refund or owe more in taxes. Here's more information on how the child tax credit affects your taxes.
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