Michael Harvie, Staff Accountant
Old House Bookkeeping and Tax
March 1, 2022
Some people may be wondering, what is the Advance Child Tax Credit? How do I know if I received it? The Advance Child Tax Credit were early payments from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The payments were 50 percent of the estimated amount of the Child Tax Credit you claim on your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. You should have received these payments if you filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return before the end of June. The payments began in July and continued through December 2021, based on one of those returns. The Advance Child Tax Credit disbursements began on July 15 and continued monthly after that. If you were married and file jointly, each spouse received half of the payments, unless one of you unenrolled from the payments.
How do I know if I got the Advance Child Tax Credit? The IRS sent out letters in June 2021 notifying taxpayers that they would receive this payment. The letter is known as Letter 6417.The letter included the estimated amount that you would receive. It also included additional information about the Advance Child Tax Credits. But if you can’t remember whether you received a letter or not, head to IRS.gov and check out the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
The Child Tax Credit Update Portal allows you to sign into IRS.gov and view a record of your eligibility, bank information, mailing address and processed payments. If you do not have an account with the IRS, you can always sign up at no cost.
What if the payments from my Letter 6419 do not match my online account payments? According to IRS.gov your online account has the most current information. IRS.gov also states not to rely on information in the Child Tax Credit Update Portal or Tax Transcripts for the advanced payments. Overall, make sure your keeping track of these payments and double check this information on IRS.gov by making an online account.
Works Cited
IRS.gov accessed 02/18/2022 Advance Child Tax Credit Payments in 2021, https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021
IRS.gov accessed 02/18/2022 IRS updates the 2021 Child Tax Credit and Advance Child Tax Credit frequently asked questions,https://www.irs.gov/pub/newsroom/fs-2022-03.pdf