The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) expands the Child Tax Credit (CTC) this tax year as the Advance Child Tax Credit 2021. Customers with CTC information on their 2019 or 2020 federal income tax return received an advance payment on July 15. Also, those who used the nonfilers tool to sign up for the Economic Impact Payment might have qualified for the Advance Child Tax Credit.
Advance Child Tax Credit 2021 payments facts:
Customers might confuse the stimulus payments received in the past year with the 2021 Child Tax Credit. However, these are two different payments issued by the government.
The child tax credit payments could reduce tax refund amounts next tax season on an average of $2000.
About 36 million families may be eligible for the Advance Child Tax Credit 2021 payments. The IRS will send out two letters to families that qualify. The first letter notifies them that they might meet the required criteria. The second letter confirms their eligibility and gives them the estimated child tax credit amount.
Recently, the IRS launched two tax credit update portals. The tools help manage the advance child tax credit payments through the Unenroll from Advance Payments.
The Eligibility Assistant is a child tax credit calculator that shows if your customer qualifies for the 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit. On the other hand, the Unenroll portal allows families to manage their monthly payments, including opting out. This way they can receive a lump sum when they file their tax return next year. For those who filed a joint return, both parents must unenroll.
How can your customers use the Child Tax Credit portal?
This summer, your customers will be able to change their info in the CTC portal that was entered last time they filed taxes. A good example of the reason they would need this would be having a baby. These would be scenarios where the IRS might not have these details on file yet.
Your customers will be able to update their mailing address, change the number of qualifying children, their marital status, or income. Customers can also re-enroll in monthly payments if they previously unenrolled or opted out.
To view or update the portal, customers will need to use their IRS login credentials or an ID.me account. The IRS partnered with ID.me to provide peace of mind to all parties involved in the advance payment transactions. ID.me is a secure identity network that allows individuals and businesses to prove their legal identity online.
Remind customers to have their photo identification ready when they create their accounts online. Customers filing jointly will each need an account.
Acceptable forms of ID are:
New accounts can be created using the links below:
Excellent customer service comes in the form of education and guidance. That will help you create a positive customer experience.
Start the process by checking your CTC client list. Verify the contact information in your tax software and decide how you want to communicate the news.
Reach out to your CTC eligible customers and explain what this means to them. Some of your customer might think they received another stimulus check when that’s not the case. Point out that you can help them make the right decisions for their tax refund situation, and then walk them through the online account set up process on the right websites.
For more details, visit the 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit page.
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