GREENSBORO, N.C. — Friday the 13th is associated with scary things, but it will be a payday for most parents. The second round of Advanced Child Tax Credit payments goes out for parents with children under the age of 17.
Normally, the payments are made on the 15th of each month, but that is a weekend in August, so the IRS is putting the money in bank accounts Friday or mailing the check.
Parents can expect $300 for each child under the age of six years old and $250 for each child ages six to 17 years old. *ALERT: If your child turns 18 at any point in 2021, you will not get this tax credit payment.*
The advance payments on the Child Tax Credit will be made every month through December. Again, this is an advance on the tax credit.
The payments will total half of the total tax credit and taxpayers will claim the other half in 2022.
HOW TO OPT-OUT OR UNENROLL
You can opt-out or unenroll from these payments so that you can claim the full credit during tax time. A lot of folks like that big deduction all at once, and if you’re unsure if you will make it over the threshold to claim the credit, you’ll want to unenroll instead of owing Uncle Sam.
To un-enroll or opt-out, use the child tax credit update portal.
This portal also allows you to change your banking information.
PORTAL TO CHANGE ADDRESS, DEPENDENTS, ETC.
If you need to make changes to your address, the number of dependents, marital status, or income, that doesn't come until later this summer, we'll keep you posted.
Do you have to do anything to get this? No.
It's automatic, but if you are a non-tax filer, the IRS just created a tool for you to put your info in so your direct deposit or check is not delayed.
STOP THE MISINFORMATION!
In the meantime, stories about the Advanced Child Tax Credit payments always get the same kind of comments about how people “should just go to work instead of collecting this money." Those comments are pure misinformation. The Advanced Child Tax Credit has nothing to do with jobs, unemployment, or benefits. This is a tax credit every parent can claim, every year, if eligible when they do their taxes. Parents are just getting to claim half of it a little early.