Check your bank account: New round of child tax credit payments arriving

CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Check your bank account! If you are one of the roughly 39 million households eligible for a child tax credit payment it should be arriving Friday morning.

Qualifying families with children under the age of 6 will receive $300 per child each month. Families with children who are 6 to 17 years old will receive $250 monthly.

This week’s payment arrives a little earlier than usual. The tax credit payment normally drops into bank accounts on the 15th of each month, but since Aug, 15 is a Sunday, it’s arriving a little early.

The American Rescue Plan passed earlier this year, increasing the existing maximum child tax credit to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 per kid for children between 6 and 17. It also set up a framework to prepay a portion of those funds over the final six months of 2021 through the IRS.

The IRS says the remaining half of the credit will come with tax refunds, bringing the total to $3,600 per child for families with children under 6 and $3,000 for families with older children. It’s an increase from the previous credit of $2,000 per child.

Parents can opt-out of future monthly payments by clicking here.

Still unsure if you qualify for the expanded child tax credit? Use the calculator below to estimate how much you might receive in periodic payments:

Want to manage your payments? The IRS has created a Child Tax Credit Update Portal.

For most, the credit is based on your 2020 tax information. If you experienced unemployment last year or saw a big raise in 2021, you could potentially see your salary move above credit phase-out levels in 2021, meaning you are getting advanced payments that you won’t actually be owed when taxes are filed next year. In theory, this could leave some credit recipients needing to pay back some of the money next year.

The Associated Press, Nexstar Media Wire and NewsNation affiliate WJW contributed to this report.