Treasury Plans Permanent Mobile-Friendly and Multi-Lingual Sign-up Tool for Non-Filers, Announces New Sign-up Tool Created by Code for America
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service announced today that more than $15 billion were paid to families that include roughly 61 million eligible children in the second monthly payment of the expanded and newly-advanceable Child Tax Credit from the American Rescue Plan passed in March. The number of payments this month increased and cover an additional 1.6 million children. Eligible families received a payment of up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child age 6 to 17.
This tax relief is having a real impact on the lives of America’s children. According to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey data released earlier this week, parents reported having less trouble covering the costs of food and other household expenses after receiving their first CTC payment. The share of families reporting that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week dropped to the lowest percentage since the pandemic began. Parents are using their CTC payments to pay for basics for their kids. Roughly half of those who received a July CTC payment reported using it to pay for food and 1 in 4 spent some of their CTC on clothing.
“Today 61 million children across America are benefiting from the advance Child Tax Credit, helping families put food on the table and meet the needs of the next generation,” said Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo. “We want every eligible family to have access to the advance Child Tax Credit, which is why we will continue our outreach efforts to drive enrollment as our children return to school.”
Treasury is announcing its commitment — as part of the Administration’s efforts to extend the expanded CTC program — to create a permanent, multi-lingual, and mobile friendly sign-up tool to help more Americans who do not regularly file taxes to claim their CTC. Treasury will work with Congress to ensure the effort is fully resourced. The Administration will also work with Congress to provide the necessary funding for a multi-year effort — leveraging public sector and community-oriented solutions — to reach and sign up more families and children.
In the meantime, Treasury and the White House are announcing a new, mobile-friendly, bilingual sign-up tool created by Code for America — a civic technology non-profit — which will be available in the coming weeks. The Administration will make an all-of government effort to enroll eligible families in the CTC, while also supporting the type of outreach and assistance needed over the long-term to ensure the Child Tax Credit is lifting up all our nation’s children.
As was the case last month, the vast majority of families received their August payments by direct deposit and the remainder will receive checks in the mail. Due to a technical issue expected to be resolved by the September payments, a small percentage of recipients — less than 15 percent — who received payments by direct deposit in July will be mailed paper checks for the August payment. Families can visit the Child Tax Credit Update Portal to see if they’re receiving a direct deposit or paper check this month.
For additional information for taxpayers on how they can access the Child Tax Credit, visit https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021 and see Frequently Asked Questions here.
| State | Total Number of Payments (000s) | Number of Qualifying Children (000s) | Total Payment Amount ($000s) | Average Payment Amount ($s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Returns, total | 36,049 | 60,918 | 15,429,789 | 428 |
| Alabama | 560 | 926 | 238,321 | 426 |
| Alaska | 83 | 154 | 38,769 | 468 |
| Arizona | 795 | 1,382 | 352,961 | 444 |
| Arkansas | 348 | 594 | 153,254 | 441 |
| California | 4,283 | 7,088 | 1,791,473 | 418 |
| Colorado | 599 | 1,024 | 254,878 | 425 |
| Connecticut | 360 | 580 | 142,342 | 395 |
| Delaware | 106 | 175 | 44,571 | 420 |
| District of Columbia | 60 | 93 | 23,045 | 383 |
| Florida | 2,296 | 3,648 | 933,467 | 407 |
| Georgia | 1,267 | 2,101 | 536,573 | 424 |
| Hawaii | 150 | 255 | 64,774 | 432 |
| Idaho | 208 | 398 | 101,326 | 488 |
| Illinois | 1,362 | 2,297 | 578,639 | 425 |
| Indiana | 757 | 1,322 | 338,458 | 447 |
| Iowa | 343 | 619 | 157,298 | 459 |
| Kansas | 321 | 579 | 147,248 | 459 |
| Kentucky | 503 | 856 | 220,036 | 437 |
| Louisiana | 550 | 897 | 229.787 | 418 |
| Maine | 130 | 213 | 54,113 | 415 |
| Massachusetts | 664 | 1,067 | 256,820 | 387 |
| Michigan | 1,024 | 1,773 | 449,614 | 439 |
| Minnesota | 603 | 1,093 | 271,601 | 450 |
| Mississippi | 369 | 597 | 154,414 | 418 |
| Missouri | 660 | 1,152 | 293,004 | 444 |
| Montana | 109 | 196 | 49,810 | 456 |
| Nebraska | 223 | 410 | 104,134 | 467 |
| Nevada | 354 | 594 | 154,047 | 435 |
| New Hampshire | 132 | 215 | 52,721 | 399 |
| New Jersey | 981 | 1,606 | 392,920 | 400 |
| New Mexico | 233 | 394 | 102,026 | 438 |
| New York | 2,012 | 3,295 | 828,283 | 412 |
| North Carolina | 1,184 | 1,953 | 499,362 | 422 |
| North Dakota | 83 | 153 | 38,361 | 461 |
| Ohio | 1,253 | 2,151 | 546,944 | 436 |
| Oklahoma | 456 | 803 | 207,272 | 455 |
| Oregon | 418 | 714 | 180,501 | 432 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,307 | 2,210 | 554,211 | 424 |
| Rhode Island | 109 | 173 | 43,692 | 401 |
| South Carolina | 577 | 959 | 245,810 | 426 |
| South Dakota | 97 | 183 | 46,421 | 477 |
| Tennessee | 764 | 1,287 | 329,990 | 432 |
| Texas | 3,601 | 6,231 | 1,594,468 | 443 |
| Utah | 390 | 797 | 201,009 | 515 |
| Vermont | 60 | 97 | 24,590 | 410 |
| Virginia | 934 | 1,563 | 388,076 | 416 |
| Washington | 798 | 1,378 | 343,950 | 431 |
| West Virginia | 180 | 302 | 77,475 | 431 |
| Wisconsin | 601 | 1,056 | 267,545 | 445 |
| Wyoming | 62 | 114 | 29,027 | 465 |
| Other areas [4] | 47 | 87 | 22,469 | 480 |
[1] Section 9611(a) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Act), Public Law 117-2, 135 Stat. 4 (March 11, 2021), amended the Child Tax Credit (CTC) rules under section 24 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) for taxable year 2021. For taxpayers who have a principal place of abode in the U.S. for more than half the year or who are bona fide residents of Puerto Rico for the year, the Act made the CTC fully refundable. The Act increased to age 17 the maximum age for which a child may be a qualifying child for the CTC. The Act also increased the maximum amount of the CTC from $2,000 to $3,600 for qualifying children under age 6 and to $3,000 for other qualifying children under age 18. Special rules are provided for U.S. Territories and their residents.
[2] The CTC phases out in two different steps based on the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income (modified AGI) in 2021.
The first $1,600 of the CTC per qualifying child under age 6 and the first $1,000 per qualifying child age 6 through 17 phase out sequentially at a rate of $50 per $1,000 (or part thereof) of modified AGI in excess of a threshold based on the taxpayer’s filing status. The modified AGI threshold is $150,000 for married joint filers or qualifying widows or widowers, $112,500 for head of household filers, and $75,000 for all other filers.
The remainder of the CTC, plus any amount of non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents, is further reduced by $50 for each $1,000 (or part thereof) that exceeds $200,000 ($400,000 for married taxpayers filing a joint return) of modified AGI. Larger families follow a modified phaseout rule that extends the AGI range of the phaseout.
[3] Section 9611(b)(1) of the Act added section 7527A to the Code. Solely for 2021, section 7527A(a) requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program for making periodic advance payments of the CTC, the total amount of which equals the taxpayer’s “annual advance amount.” The “annual advance amount” of a taxpayer is the amount estimated by the Secretary as being equal to 50 percent of the CTC that would be allowed to the taxpayer for 2021 based on information reported on the taxpayer’s 2020 Federal income tax return (or their 2019 return if the 2020 return is not available). The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will disburse these advance payments monthly from July to December of 2021. The taxpayer must file a Tax Year 2021 return to claim the remainder of their CTC (if any). At the time these data were generated, taxpayers may use a designated IRS online tool, referred to as the “Child Tax Credit Update Portal,” to opt out of advance payments.
A taxpayer’s Federal income tax will be increased, dollar-for-dollar, if their total CTC advance payments during 2021 exceed the amount of the CTC to which they are eligible for that year. However, safe harbor rules may reduce the additional income tax owed depending on the taxpayer’s modified AGI.
[4] Includes residents of U.S. territories, U.S. citizens abroad, and returns filed from Army Post Office and Fleet Post Office addresses by members of the armed forces stationed overseas.
NOTES: The numbers shown reflect advance CTC payments disbursed to eligible recipients based on taxpayer account information and do not account for reversed or undeliverable advance CTC payments.
Details may not add to totals because of rounding.
Source: Office of Tax Analysis tabulations of Internal Revenue Service data, August 11, 2021
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