Glitches, confusion leaving many parents without advance child tax credit payments

Misinformation, delays are all fueling confusion about the monthly child tax credit payments that the IRS has begun sending to tens of millions of American families. This initial batch of payments, directly deposited July 15, is the first of six this year.

The payments are part of the Biden administration’s effort to get money into the hands of struggling families. Families with children 5 and under can receive up to $300 a month per child. For parents of children ages 6 through 17, it’s up to $250 a month per child.

Those who got their money were elated, with many people posting on TikTok to chronicle their excitement. One TikTok user wrote, “Got my 1st child tax credit payment. Biden paying more child support than my baby daddy.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., asked her nearly 13 million Twitter followers, “Who’s gotten their CTC today? How is it going to help you out?” One Phoenix follower said the $250 payment went to help pay part of a $400 bill to the utility company SRP. “Normally we’re choosing between food and the SRP bill — not this month thanks to Democrats!”

But many parents are also emailing journalists or taking to Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit to complain or ask why they haven’t received their payments yet. Some didn’t get as much as they thought they were due, while others don’t have a clue as to why the payments haven’t been deposited into their bank accounts.

One South Carolina mother reached out to The Washington Post upset that she did get the advance child tax credit payments for her two children aged 9 and 10 — $500 — but not for her 17-year-old.

Had Treasury and the IRS communicated better about the age cutoff, she wouldn’t have been worried. While it’s true that the payment is available for some 17-year-olds, it’s not available if the child will turn 18 this year.

“Oh, OK,” the relieved mother said when I called to interview her.

Parents are upset that they re