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Next IRS check goes to millions of Americans Monday

The week begins with another advance child tax credit payment. Here's how much parents can expect.

The next installment of the advance child tax credit payment is set to start hitting bank accounts via direct deposit and through the mail Monday. It will be the fifth of the six monthly payments scheduled for 2021.

The credit is $3,600 annually for children under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6 to 17. Eligible families who did not opt-out of the monthly payments are receiving $300 monthly for each child under 6 and $250 per older child. Half of the total money is going out via the monthly payments, which started in July. The rest will come at tax time next year.

The benefits begin to phase out at incomes of $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married couples. Families with incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $400,000 for married couples can still receive $2,000. That's what the child tax credit was for all eligible families before the increase was passed under the American Rescue Plan in March.

The final payment for the year will arrive Dec. 15.

Monday is also the deadline for low-income families who have not yet received the monthly payments to sign up. These are typically people who weren't automatically signed up since they are not required to file a tax return due to their income status. Registering by Monday could result in them getting all six months of payments at one time in December. 

If my child tax credit is issued but I didn't get it, what do I do?

If you've been informed your payment has been issued, but you have not received it, there is a way you can appeal.

The IRS website said you can request a payment trace to track your payment if it doesn't arrive, but only after one of these time frames has elapsed.

  • 5 days since the direct deposit date and the bank says it hasn't received the payment.
  • 4 weeks since the payment was mailed by check to a standard address. 
  • 6 weeks since the payment was mailed, and you have a forwarding address on file with the local post office.
  • 9 weeks since the payment was mailed, and you have a foreign address.

To start a trace, complete Form 3911 and fax or mail it in. Instructions on where to send it are at the bottom of the form.

Will the monthly child tax credit payment continue into 2022?

At this time, the monthly child tax credit payments are set to end with the December payment. A one-year extension of the credit is part of the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better domestic program bill under consideration by Congress. But a House vote on that bill, which has been the subject of intra-party battles between progressive and more fiscally conservative Democrats, is on hold until at least next week. And even if it passes in the House, it still must get through the evenly divided Senate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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