South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Track and manage your child tax credit payments
If you’re wondering if the IRS should be sending you monthly child tax credit payments, there’s an easy way to find out: Use the Child Tax Credit Update Portal on the IRS’ website.
Right now, this online tool (www.irs.gov/ credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal) lets you see if you’re eligible for monthly payments; opt out of monthly payments; see a list of your monthly payments; update or add your bank information for future monthly payments; and change your mailing address for paper checks sent through the mail.
The IRS is expanding the tool so you’ll also be able to revise the number of dependents, marital status and income that are used to calculate your monthly payments. You’ll also be allowed to re-enroll for monthly payments if you previously opted out.
The 2021 child tax credit is worth $3,600 for each child 5 years old or younger and $3,000 for each kid 6 to 17 years of age. If you receive six payments from July to December this year, each monthly payment will equal 1⁄12 of your total credit amount. That comes to a maximum monthly payment of $300 for each child under age
6 and $250 for each child ages 6 through 17. You’ll claim the rest of the credit when you file your 2021 tax return next year.
Be aware, the credit amount and monthly payments are gradually reduced for wealthier families, which might not receive any credit or payments at all if they make too much money.
Most monthly child tax credit payments will be directly deposited into your bank account. That’s what the IRS will do if it has your bank account information from your
2019 or 2020 tax return; the IRS’s online tool used last year by people who aren’t required to file a tax return to get a firstround stimulus check; a federal agency that provides you benefits, such as the Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs or the Railroad Retirement Board; or the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
If the IRS doesn’t have your bank account information, you’ll get a paper check or debit card in the mail.
To help prevent fraud and identity theft, you have to verify your identity before accessing the Child Tax Credit Update Portal. If you have an existing IRS account, use that account’s username and password to sign in to the portal. You’ll have to enter a security code as part of the multi-factor authentication process.
If you have an existing account with ID.me from a state government or federal agency, you can use the email and password associated with that account to access the portal.