As people across the United States continue to wait for the fourth batch of stimulus checks, some families may be eligible to receive up to $3,600 in relief payments when they file their taxes this year.
The enhanced federal Child Tax Credit, which was one of the elements stated in the American Rescue Plan, was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 20, 2021, and will take effect on July 2021.
A total of $1,500 or $1,800 in payments was made to American households under the enlarged child tax credit program. Some families, on the other hand, were either unable to receive the payments or chose not to receive the funds.
People who qualified for and did not receive a payment under the enhanced child tax credit in the previous year would be eligible to collect their money when they submit their taxes for the current year.
Families with children under the age of six are likely to receive $3,600, while families with children between the ages of six and seventeen are slated to receive $3,000, according to the Local 12 newspaper.
The enhanced child tax credit is available to single parents who earn less than $112,500 per year or married couples filing jointly who earn less than $150,000 per year, whichever is lower. Families with higher earnings may receive a reduced credit or may be ineligible to receive the money altogether, depending on their circumstances.
The announcement of the increased child tax credit payments comes as the American Rescue Plan, which provided direct payments of up to $1,400 per person for the first time on March 11, celebrated its one-year anniversary.
Since then, Congress has made no indication that it intends to approve another round of stimulus checks, despite the fact that the United States has passed the 960,000 COVID-19 fatalities mark and has reported 79.5 million cases.
Some states have taken the initiative to issue their own round of stimulus checks, and others are considering doing so. In Utah, for example, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is pushing to reinstate the expanded child tax credits, which were previously repealed in a measure approved in 2021 but have since been reinstated.
Families with children aged 5 and younger will receive $350, and families with children aged 6 to 17 will receive $250, according to the proposed legislation.
Those who receive the money from the enlarged child tax credit, on the other hand, would be required to fulfill specific employment conditions.
Romney’s office has stated that the idea, titled the “Family Security Act,” has not yet been formally introduced in Congress. The conditions of the agreement are also now being negotiated.