With this latest monthly payment, since July, Treasury and the IRS will have delivered almost $93 billion dollars in direct payments to families.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service distributed more than $16 billion in tax relief to the families of approximately 61 million eligible children as a part of the sixth monthly payment of the enhanced and advanceable Child Tax Credit (CTC) included in the American Rescue Plan. Since the first payments were disbursed in July, Treasury and the IRS have delivered almost $93 billion to families. 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.
“Since July, monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit have helped millions of families pay for essentials such as food, childcare, and other household needs as those expenses arise,” said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. “The lives of tens of millions of children across the country have improved because families have received tax relief when they need it most.”
Data demonstrates clearly that monthly CTC payments have been spent on essential expenses associated with raising children. Within weeks of the first payment in July, the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey data showed that 55% of middle-income families spent their payments on food, more than 26% spent it on clothes, and 23% spend it on costs related to school and afterschool. A national survey from researchers at the Social Policy Institute found that 42% planned to use at least some of the credit to start or grow a college fund for their child and 24% planned to use their payments for childcare expenses. Approximately half of middle-class parents with kids report spending some of their tax relief on their rent, mortgage, utilities, or a car payment, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
Over the past few months, Treasury and the White House have partnered with federal agencies, state and local governments, national organizations, and community groups to train thousands of people across the country to serve as navigators. These navigators are trusted messengers within their communities, providing approachable, hands-on expertise to non-filers. The White House and Treasury have conducted more than 40 navigator trainings to date, which provided training for more than 6,600 potential Child Tax Credit navigators in English and Spanish. The IRS also embarked on an extensive communications and education effort to reach non-filers, with a special focus on reaching underserved and non-English speaking communities. As part of this ongoing effort, the IRS hosted free tax preparation days in nearly 30 cities across the country in June and July, has participated in more than 250 partner events on the Child Tax Credit, developed online materials and toolkits, and sent letters in October to potential non-filers detailing how to sign up for advance payments of the Child Tax Credit and the 3rd round of Economic Impact Payments.
A state-by-state breakdown of Child Tax Credit payments (PDF) is available here.
A state-by-state breakdown of Child Tax Credit payments (XLSX) is available here.
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