Financial lifeline: Last chance to get advance child tax credit

WASHINGTON » It could be a financial lifeline just in time for the holidays

— a child tax credit payment to cover food, rent or presents for children in households struggling to make ends meet.

The American Rescue Plan expanded the credit for the 2021 tax year to a total of $3,600 for children 5 and younger and $3,000 for those ages 6 to 17. In July, parents of children 5 and younger began receiving up to $300 a month per child. For parents of children ages 6 to 17, it’s up to $250 per child. The final direct deposit is scheduled for Dec. 15.

The payments are being sent in advance, enabling households to claim the credit early instead of waiting until they file their 2021 tax returns. People can get these benefits even if they don’t work or receive no income.

For those whose income has been too low to file a return, be sure to use the online sign-up tool, linked from IRS.gov. This link redirects to whitehouse.gov. The administration collaborated with a nonprofit, Code for America, which created a non-filer sign-up tool that can be used on a mobile phone and is also available in Spanish.

Nov. 15 is the deadline — the last chance — for families to use the non-filer tool. Because the advance payments are stopping at the end of the year, any family signing up now will get a single lump-sum payment in December — up to $1,800 for each child in the younger category and up to $1,500 for each child in the older one.

Like any other eligible family that files a return, these families will need to file a 2021 return next year to claim the remaining portion of the child tax credit.

Eligible families that filed a 2019 or 2020 income tax return were supposed to have received the money without any action on their part. With the Oct. 15 payment, the Internal Revenue Service has sent out payments to about 36 million families, totaling about $61 billion. And reports have indicated that the payments have helped reduce child poverty.