39 Million Americans to Receive First Installment of Child Tax Credit Today

     Most of the 39 million American families who are eligible for President Joe Biden’s expanded child tax credit will receive the first of their monthly payments today.

     The payments were included in the president’s American Rescue Plan, which increased both the number of American families who were eligible for child tax credits the eligibility pool and increased the amounts of money families receive.

     Eligible families can receive a total of up to $3,600 for each child under 6 and up to $3,000 for each one age 6 to 17 for 2021. The new payments are significantly up from last year’s child tax credit that only refunded up to $2,000 for each child who was under age 17.

     Parents who eligible for the full enhanced credit will receive $300 a month, per child who is under age 6, and $250 a month, per child, who are between 6 to 17.

     The payments max out at $3,600 annually for each child under 6, and $3,000 for those ages 6 to 17.

      In line with its intention to reduce the number of children living in poverty, the White House estimates that its expanded child tax credits could reduce child poverty by as much as 50%.

      "This major middle-class tax relief and step in reducing child poverty is a remarkable economic victory for America: and also a moral one," said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was born in Brooklyn.

     Americans who are eligible and who have filed their taxes recently or receive stimulus checks need not take any additional steps to receive the monthly tax credits.

     An estimated 4 to 8 million eligible children, however, are at risk of not receiving the benefit because their families are either not required to file taxes or have not done so: a problematic wrinkle because households who do not file taxes tend to be among the most vulnerable and the most in need of assistance.