As November Child Tax Credits Are Delivered, Parents Have One Last Chance to Sign Up for Advance Payment

How has your family spent or saved the advance child tax credits? Email senior money reporter Alicia Adamczyk for a chance to be featured in an upcoming article.

The fifth advance child tax credit (CTC) payment is being disbursed by the IRS starting Monday, sending an estimated $15 billion to around 36 million families, the agency said last week.

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Those who have signed up for direct deposit with the IRS will receive their payments first. After this month, families who qualify for the advance checks can expect to receive one more this year, in December. They will also receive the other half of the CTC when they file their taxes next year.

The CTC was changed in two key ways in 2021 as part of the Democrats' American Rescue Plan: It was increased from $2,000 to as much as $3,600 per child, and it was made fully refundable, meaning even the lowest-income Americans can receive it. Eligible families are receiving up to $300 per month in advance for each child under 6 and up to $250 per month for each child between 6 and 17.

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Eligible families began receiving the first of six advance monthly payments in July. Low-income families who have not received advance payments because they do not typically file a tax return have until Monday night, Nov. 15, to sign up to receive a lump sum of up to $1,800 for children under 6 and up to $1,500 for children between 6 and 17 in December. Otherwise, they can still get the full value of the credit if they file a tax return in 2022.

To sign up, parents can use GetCTC.org, made by Code for America in collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the White House, or go directly to the IRS's website and use the CTC update portal.

Currently, the enhanced tax credit expires after this year, but Democrats are pushing for it to be extended into at least 2022 in their social spending legislation. Negotiations on the bill are ongoing.