Eligible Families Will Begin Receiving Child Tax Credit Monthly Payments This Week

More than 120,000 children in New Jersey’s Sixth Congressional District Will Benefit from the American Rescue Plan Pallone Helped Pass

Long Branch – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) held a virtual press conference today to encourage hardworking families to be on the lookout for advance monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit of up to $300 per month per child beginning July 15 through December. He was joined by Tim Fallon, a single father who resides in New Brunswick and Yarrow Willman-Cole, Workplace Justice Program Director for New Jersey Citizen Action.

120,800 children in New Jersey’s Sixth Congressional District will benefit from the expanded Child Tax Credit. Nationwide, roughly 39 million households, covering almost 90 percent of children in the United States, will begin getting this tax relief automatically.

“Child Tax Credit Monthly Payments will help set America’s children up for success and put more money in the pockets of hardworking parents sooner that they can use to pay for child care or put gas in the car,” said Pallone. “So many Americans, especially those with children, have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why I worked with the Biden Administration to include this expanded Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan. This expansion will help cut child poverty in half as we work to build our country back better for all Americans.”

“Taking care of my kids is only getting more costly over time, especially as a single parent,” said Tim Fallon of New Brunswick. “Expenses like health care, child care, and education are still difficult to afford for many Americans. An extra $1,000 in the new Child Tax Credit makes a huge difference in the lives of kids like my son. I’m grateful for Congressman Pallone’s leadership on this issue, and I hope his colleagues in Washington see fit to make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent for the sake of families everywhere.”

The American Rescue Plan expanded the Child Tax Credit to up to $3,600 per child for children ages 0 to 5 and $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17. The American Rescue Plan also authorized advance monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit through December 2021.  Beginning in July and running through December, qualifying families can get up to:

• $300 a month per child for children ages 0 to 5.

• $250 a month per child for children ages 6 to 17.

Families will get their remaining expanded Child Tax Credit when they file their 2021 tax return.

Families will qualify for a full credit if their income is below $75,000 for single filers, $112,000 for people filing as head of household, or $150,000 for people who are married and filing jointly.

• Nearly all hardworking families should get their monthly payments automatically beginning July 15^th with no further action required. If you’ve filed tax returns for 2019 or 2020, or if you signed up to receive a stimulus check from the Internal Revenue Service, you will get this tax relief automatically. You do not need to sign up or take any action.
• 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, should go online and use the IRS Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool to sign up today.
• Families who got their refunds from the IRS through direct deposit will get these payments in their bank account around the 15th of every month until the end of 2021. People who don’t use direct deposit will receive their payment by mail around the same time.
• Families will be able to determine their eligibility, check the status of their payments and more at IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021 later this month.

Watch out for scams

The IRS urges everyone to be on the lookout for scams related to both Advance Child Tax Credit payments and Economic Impact Payments. The only way to get either of these benefits is by either filing a tax return with the IRS or registering online through the Non-filer Sign-up tool, exclusively on IRS.gov. Any other option is a scam. Watch out for scams using email, phone calls or texts related to the payments. Be careful and cautious: The IRS never sends unsolicited electronic communications asking anyone to open attachments or visit a non-governmental web site.