Time Is Running Out to Claim Your Benefits and Child Tax Credits
Last month, the IRS reported that millions of eligible people have not yet properly received their COVID payments. The IRS uses tax returns to determine whether they are eligible for both pandemic stimulus checks and child tax credits . file your taxes. Here’s what you can do to take action before this week’s deadline to apply for benefits and/or child tax credits.
If you didn’t file your tax return in 2022
You may not have filed your federal income tax return this part of April if your income was below a certain amount. However, you must apply to qualify for any type of refundable tax credit.
You have until Thursday, November 17 to file a simplified tax return to claim your missing money for benefits or the child tax credit. The IRS Free File site remains open until this deadline.
Again, this week’s deadline applies to people who aren’t normally required to file taxes — for example, if you make less than $12,550 a year and file as a single taxpayer. If you normally file taxes, your extended deadline was October 17, so you should have filed by now. If you live in an area that has been declared a disaster by the Federal Emergency Management Agency , you have until Tuesday, November 15 (today) to file your tax return. If you were hit by a recent natural disaster such as Hurricane Yang, you have until February 15, 2023 .
What payout amounts are you entitled to?
The November 17 deadline is for filing both the missing stimulus check and related child tax credit payments. Here is a summary of the pandemic stimulus amounts:
- First stimulus check: $1,200 sent April 2020.
- Second stimulus check: $600 sent December 2020.
- Third stimulus check: $1,400 sent March 2021.
The Child Tax Credit, a benefit designed to help taxpayers support their families, was significantly expanded in tax year 2021 by the American Plan of Rescue Act. Eligible families were to receive up to $3,600 per child, or up to $1,800 per child if you received monthly payments in 2021.
Here’s everything you need to know about claiming a child tax credit . For answers to additional questions, such as what to do if you don’t have a bank account or if you don’t share custody of a child, check out this clarification from The 19th and the IRS fact sheet on child tax credits .
If you have filed a tax return but still don’t have payments
If you filed taxes in 2021, you should already have received money from the first two rounds of stimulus checks. If you’ve filed a tax return and still haven’t received money for benefits or a child tax credit, here are a few possible reasons why those payments never came through:
- You don’t have a bank account set up.
- It was your first submission.
- You have a mixed status household.
- You have not updated your address with the IRS or USPS.
- You are experiencing homelessness.
- You have limited or no internet access.
What you can do now is send a payment tracking report to the IRS by calling 800-919-9835 or sending a letter on Form 3911 . Here’s our guide on how to actually contact a real person at the IRS so you can get the money you’re owed.