Financial KnowHow: How To Claim Your Child’s Monthly Tax Credit!

By The DivaGals | December 9, 2021 | Gal Approved

Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels

Have kids? The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, the nation’s premier civil rights organization that worked with Dr. Martin Luther King on legislation is informing Black families of their eligibility to claim monthly Child Tax Credit checks.

Since President Joe Biden and Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit this past summer, parents received up to $3,600 per child, half of which are made available in monthly advance payments. Here’s what you need to know from Gaylynn Burroughs, senior policy counsel, The Leadership Conference for Civil & Human Rights.

What’s this program about?

The Child Tax Credit helps families offset the cost of raising children. It was initially enacted in 1997. In March, Congress temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit in three important ways. The amount of tax credit increased from $2,000 per child to $3,000 per child ages 6 through 17, and $3,600 per child under 6. Families receive half of their total credit — up to $300 per child — in advance monthly payments that started in July and continue until December 15. The expansion also made the credit fully available to most families, including those making little to no income.

This money is helping families across the country make ends meet or just breathe a little easier. Families have used the credit to pay for school supplies, uniforms, utility bills, child care, and more. The historic expansion of the credit is also a gamechanger in the fight against child poverty, lifting millions of children out of poverty. It is estimated to cut the Black and Latino child poverty rate by more than 40 percent.

Tashia, a mother and early childhood educator based in Washington, D.C., said, “It’s helping us get all the groceries that we need.” In a new video from The Leadership Conference Education Fund, she shares how the Child Tax Credit makes a difference in her kids’ lives.

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How did actress Kerry Washington get involved?

On social media, Kerry Washington has been educating families on the Child Tax Credit, including what it means, what it offers, and encouraging families to sign up for it. There were a lot of myths about the Child Tax Credit and having a trusted voice like hers explain the credit is helpful.

“There’s nothing shady about it,” she tells parents and other caretakers in one video.

How can people get their Child Tax Credit in 2022?

Most families started receiving monthly child tax credit payments automatically in July. Families that did not receive advance monthly payments, however, will still receive the Child Tax Credit when they file their 2021 taxes next year, but the improvements made to the child tax credit will end unless Congress extends the expansion. The Build Back Better Act would continue the expanded Child Tax Credit for another year. The bill has passed in the House and is awaiting action in the Senate.

The White House has more information about who qualifies, where payments are sent, and how to update information or unenroll available at ChildTaxCredit.gov.

photo credit: August de Richelieu from Pexels