Child Cash Benefits Will Hit Bank Accounts Starting July 15th
The payments to families will begin July 15
Some much needed relief for parents is on the way. Nearly 39 million American families will receive cash payments beginning in July under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill he signed in March.
The Internal Revenue Service will begin delivering a monthly child tax credit payment of $300 per child under age six and $250 per child over six on July 15 for those who qualify. For example, if you qualify and have two kids ages four and 13, you will receive $550 from the IRS on or close (depending on holidays) to the 15th of every month from July to December. There is no action required on the part of the family.
To qualify for the full amount, families must have an adjusted joint income of less than $150,000 or $75,000 for individuals. The credit diminishes as your income goes above these amounts. Dual-income households earning up to $400,000 annually will still receive periodic payments, totaling $2,000 per child this year.
The Biden administration believes this will impact 65 million children (88 percent of all U.S. kids). The checks will be paid through direct deposit, paper check, or debit card. For now, these payments will stop in 2022 unless Congress passes an extension. The Biden administration has already asked to extend the program through 2025 in its “American Families Plan” proposal, in an effort to cut childhood poverty in America.
A group of Democratic lawmakers called the program “the most significant policy to come out of Washington in generations, and Congress has an historic opportunity to provide a lifeline to the middle class and to cut child poverty in half on a permanent basis,” according to a statement last month.
“With two parents, two kids, that’s $7,200 in the pockets you’re getting to help take care of your family,” Biden said in his address to Congress in April. “And that will help more than 65 million children and help cut childcare poverty in half, and we can afford it.”
In addition, the American Rescue Plan also provided the individual stimulus checks, extended unemployment insurance, and small business support.
According to the website, “For households who have already filed their income tax return for 2020, the IRS will use that information to determine eligibility and size of payments. For households that haven’t yet filed for 2020, the IRS will review records from 2019 to determine eligibility and size of payment.”
This will provide much-needed relief for families who suffered during the pandemic, lost their jobs, had to quit to care for family, oversee homeschooling, and those caring for sick family members. The plan will cost roughly $100 billion a year.
