Child Tax Credit monthly payments will begin in July for Missouri families

By Tatum Goetting, Editorial Assistant

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) will be entering Missouri families’ bank accounts July 15, according to a press release from U.S. Representative Emmanuel Cleaver II (D-MO). The Tax Credit will provide families with children ages 0 to 5 with $300 monthly and $250 monthly for children ages 6-17. Previously, the credit had excluded children who had turned 17. Eligible families will receive up to $1,800 in cash through December.

The expanded CTC with the advanced monthly payments was passed through the American Rescue Plan.

The effort expands the benefit from a $2,000 credit, taken annually once taxes are filed, to up to $3,600 per child, with half the amount divided into six payments to be paid out in cash on a monthly basis, from July through December, and the rest claimed on Missouri families’ 2021 tax returns, the press release said.

“By providing this much-needed tax relief to nearly 49,000 families in my congressional district, parents will have more money to pay for groceries, childcare, school supplies, and other items that are critical to the future success of Missouri’s children,” Congressman Cleaver said. “I was proud to support these monthly payments through the American Rescue Plan, and I will support making them permanent should the President’s American Families Plan make it to the House floor.”

According to the press release, 48,900 households, or 91% of all children in Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, could get up to $300 per child starting next month through December of 2021. All Missouri families should receive their monthly payments beginning July 15 with no further action required.

Families who did not file a tax return for 2019 or 2020, and who did not use the IRS Non-filers tool last year to sign up for the Economic Impact Payments, are encouraged to go online and use the IRS Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool to ensure payments are received. For help filing a past due return, visit the IRS website.

This effort has some similarities to the three rounds of stimulus checks that have been distributed by the IRS to help people in the midst of the pandemic. The enhanced Child Tax Credit and the stimulus checks are only available to lower- and middle-class families. The IRS will also deposit these payments directly into bank accounts.

One major difference, however, is how the IRS treats overpayment. In cases where people receive more than they were entitled to with the stimulus checks, recipients did not have to repay the IRS. That is not the case with the Child Tax Credit.

“If you receive a total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that exceeds the amount of Child Tax Credit that you can properly claim on your 2021 tax year, you may need to repay to the IRS some or all of that excess payment,” the IRS said on its website.

The IRS also said people will be able to opt out of the payments via an online tool, which is now available. The Child Tax Credit Portal allows people to un-enroll from the tax credit before the first payment is made July 15.

For the July payment, people must unenroll by June 28. The unenrollment dates for future payments will be on the third day before the first Thursday of the following month.

The dates to unenroll are: