Child tax credit payments to begin on July 15
For the first time, families with children in the US are eligible to receive monthly child tax credit payments starting on July 15.
Families with children have some additional income coming their way. Under the American Rescue Plan, 39 million households will receive monthly child tax credits starting on July 15, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Treasury Department announced on Monday. This is the first time child tax credit recipients will get payments on a monthly basis, NBC News reports.
According to a Treasury Department press, the advanced child tax credit is a temporary, one-year benefit that will cover 88 percent of the country’s children, bring more than five million children out of poverty, and cut the child poverty rate in half release.
It is also a precursor to the American Families Plan President Joe Biden announced in April. It includes major investments such as universal preschool for three and four-year-olds, childcare on a sliding scale, and free community college.
Read More: Child tax credit expansion sets up showdown with GOP
The American Rescue Plan raises the child tax credit to $3,600 for each child under the age of six and to $3000 for children between the ages of six and 17, compared to $2000 given before. People must file their taxes by May 17 in order to receive the benefit and will get payments via direct deposit, paper checks, or debit cards. Most people will not need to take any further actions, according to the IRS.
Many left-leaning lawmakers applaud the move by the Biden Administration as a first step but want to take the policy further by instituting it permanently.
“The expanded Child Tax Credit will directly benefit an estimated 108,600 children in my district and will cut child poverty in HALF. Now let’s make it permanent,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).
Like many Congress members who took to social media to remind people to file their taxes soon in order to receive the tax credit, Senator Cory Booker also spoke to the policy’s long-term impact.
“For every $1,000 provided to low-income families through the Earned Income Tax Credit we can expect more than $2,000 in returns over a child’s lifetime,” Booker said in a tweet. “These are the kinds of investments we should be making—and that’s why we need to permanently expand the EITC.”
Read More: Biden senior advisor Cedric Richmond on how American Rescue Plan benefits Black communities
In a Washington Post op-ed Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) elaborated on legislation she introduced last week with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) to get rid of what she has identified as the #SingleParentPenalty.
“Even when the single-parent family earns much less, its members miss out on a benefit that goes to a higher-earning married family. Single parents are often more financially vulnerable because they have a higher risk of income interruption and additional need for paid child care,” wrote Porter.
“There is no single-parent discount for groceries, child care or doctors’ bills. The child tax credit exists to improve children’s well-being. No child should have fewer opportunities for nutritious food, good housing and quality care because her parents are not married.”
The enhanced portion of the tax credits will be available for single parents making up to $75,000 a year, head of household filers making $112,500, and married joint filers earning up to $150,000, CNN reports.
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