Child Tax Credit payments: IRS online portal now available in Spanish; Nov. 29 is last day for families to opt out or make other changes
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service this week launched a new Spanish-language version of the Child Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC-UP). This tool is designed to help families quickly and easily make changes to the monthly Child Tax Credit payments they are receiving from the IRS.
Families who are already receiving monthly payments use the CTC-UP to update their accounts. Now, all the features that have only been available in English are also available in Spanish. Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Nov. 29 will be reflected in the last monthly payment for 2021, scheduled for Dec. 15.
Under the American Rescue Plan, most eligible families began receiving monthly payments starting in July. For these families, each payment is up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child ages 6 through 17. Payments are based on returns filed for 2019 or 2020, including those who registered online with the IRS.
Available only on IRS.gov, CTC-UP allows families to verify their eligibility for the payments and then, if they choose to:
- Switch from receiving a paper check to direct deposit;
- Change the account where their payment is direct deposited;
- Update their mailing address;
- Stop monthly payments and
- Reflect significant changes in their income that could potentially raise or lower their monthly payments.
Be sure to make any changes by 11:59 pm ET on Nov. 29. To access the portal, visit IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021.
Families are typically receiving half of their total CTC in advance monthly payments during 2021. They can claim the rest of the credit when they file their 2021 federal income tax return next year. To help them do that, early in 2022, families will receive Letter 6419 documenting any advance payments issued to them during 2021 and the number of qualifying children used to calculate the advance payments.
Non-filers can get lump-sum next year; community partners can help
The IRS encourages partners and community groups to share information and use available online tools to help non-filers, low-income families and other underserved groups learn about the expanded Child Tax Credit. While it’s now too late to sign up for advance payments of the CTC during 2021, it’s not too late for eligible families to get the full benefit of the credit.
To do that, any eligible family who missed out on this year’s monthly payments can still get a lump-sum payment by filing a 2021 federal income tax return next year. This includes families who don’t normally need to file a return with the IRS.
Links to online tools, answers to frequently asked questions and other helpful resources are available on the IRS’ special advance CTC 2021 page.
Source: IRS-2021-235, November 23, 2021
