A8. You qualify for advance Child Tax Credit payments if you have a qualifying child. Also, you — or your spouse, if married filing a joint return — must have your main home in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia for more than half the year. Your main home can be any location where you regularly live. Your main home may be your house, apartment, mobile home, shelter, temporary lodging, or other location and doesn’t need to be the same physical location throughout the taxable year. You don’t need a permanent address to get these payments. If you are temporarily away from your main home because of illness, education, business, vacation, or military service, you are generally treated as living in your main home.
For more information regarding eligibility for advance Child Tax Credit payments, and the Child Tax Credit generally, see Topic B: Eligibility for Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and the 2021 Child Tax Credit.
For information on how the amount of your Child Tax Credit could be reduced based on the amount of your income, see Topic C: Calculation of the 2021 Child Tax Credit.
A9. No.
A10. No. Advance Child Tax Credit payments are not income and will not be reported as income on your 2021 tax return. Advance Child Tax Credit payments are advance payments of your tax year 2021 Child Tax Credit.
However, the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that you receive during 2021 is based on the IRS’s estimate of your 2021 Child Tax Credit. If the total is greater than the Child Tax Credit amount that you are allowed to claim on your 2021 tax return, you may have to repay the excess amount on your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. For example, if you receive advance Child Tax Credit payments for two qualifying children properly claimed on your 2020 tax return, but you no longer have qualifying children in 2021, the advance Child Tax Credit payments that you received based on those children are added to your 2021 income tax unless you qualify for repayment protection. For more information regarding your eligibility for repayment protection, and how to reconcile your advance Child Tax Credit payments with your Child Tax Credit on your 2021 tax return, see Topic H: Reconciling Your Advance Child Tax Credit Payments on Your 2021 Tax Return.
For this reason, you may wish to unenroll from receiving advance Child Tax Credit payments. You can unenroll through the Child Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC UP). For more information regarding the CTC UP, see Topic F: Updating Your Child Tax Credit Information During 2021.
A11. Yes. In January 2022, the IRS will send you Letter 6419 to provide the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that were disbursed to you during 2021. Please keep this letter regarding your advance Child Tax Credit payments with your tax records. You may need to refer to this letter when you file your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season.
For more information regarding this letter and how to reconcile your advance Child Tax Credit payments with your Child Tax Credit on your 2021 return, see Topic H: Reconciling Your Advance Child Tax Credit Payments on Your 2021 Tax Return.
A12. No. Advance Child Tax Credit payments cannot be counted as income when determining if you or anyone else is eligible for benefits or assistance, or how much you or anyone else can receive, under any federal program or under any state or local program financed in whole or in part with federal funds. These programs also cannot count advance Child Tax Credit payments as a resource for purposes of determining eligibility for at least 12 months after you receive it.
A13. The IRS launched on IRS.gov a Child Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC UP), which will allow you update information with the IRS.
CTC UP currently allows you to elect not to receive advance Child Tax Credit payments and update your bank account information. The IRS will add features to CTC UP later this year, which are described in What if information about my bank, mailing address, income, or family has changed during 2021?
A14. The IRS urges everyone to be on the lookout for scam artists trying to use advance Child Tax Credit payments as a cover for schemes to steal personal information and money. The IRS doesn't initiate contact by email, text messages, or social media channels to request personal or financial information – even information related to advance Child Tax Credit payments. Also, watch out for emails with attachments or links claiming to have special information about advance Child Tax Credit payments or refunds of the Child Tax Credit.
If you receive a suspicious IRS-related email, see Report Phishing and Online Scams for additional information.
A15. The IRS will be releasing additional materials and information that can be easily shared by social media, email, and other methods. The IRS urges employers, community groups, non-profits, associations, education groups, and anyone else with connections to people with children to share this critical information about advance Child Tax Credit payments and the Child Tax Credit expansions for the 2021 tax year.
A16. Most people who the Child Tax Credit Update Portal shows as eligible for advance CTC payments can currently update certain information and will be able to update additional information in the coming months.
References
Internal Revenue Service (IRS). (2021). 2021 child tax credit and advance child tax credit payments, topic A – general information. Retrieved from https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/2021-child-tax-credit-and-advance-child-tax-credit-payments-topic-a-general-information#a16
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