Newburg | CPA Staff Writers – February 11, 2022 (with excerpts from IRS.gov and childtaxcredit.gov)

Eligible parents and guardians who filed their 2019 and 2020 tax returns and claimed qualifying children may have automatically received half of their 2021 anticipated total Child Tax Credit amount in advance. Based on these filings, the IRS was paying out half of your total child tax credit by way of monthly checks from   July through December 2021.  As a reminder, if you received these advance payments, it would reduce the credit you can claim on your 2021 tax return by the amount of the advance payments you received in 2021.

In January the IRS issued Letter 6419, ‘Advance Child Tax Credit Reconciliation’ to taxpayers indicating the payments issued and the number of qualifying children used to calculate the advance payments.  For taxpayers who are married filing jointly, individual letters are being sent to each taxpayer (as indicated in the letters). Therefore, married taxpayers will each receive a letter, and will need to combine the information from the letters when the joint return is filed.  We urge you to provide this information to assist with your tax preparation and determine the other half of the 2021 credit.

Note, there is a small group of taxpayers with letters that may have contained outdated information, especially for taxpayers who have moved or if their checks or direct deposit payments were undeliverable.

The IRS encourages taxpayers to verify advance payments online and below are the options available:

We highly recommend obtaining the details online, checking this information thoroughly, and confirming any payments received as you gather your tax information for us to prepare your 2021 returns.  This will avoid matching issues for potential notices of discrepancies and processing delays.

In addition, the IRS recently issued updated Child Tax Credit frequently asked questions (FAQs) which you can visit at https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/2021-child-tax-credit-and-advance-child-tax-credit-payments-frequently-asked-questions

How do I understand the difference between Child Tax Credit Payments, Tax Refunds, and Economic Impact Payments?

If you received direct deposits to your bank account:

The code within the description of each direct deposit will tell you the difference between a 2021 Child Tax Credit payment, an Economic Impact Payment, and a tax refund. First, locate the deposit in your bank statement and read the description. If it says:

  • IRS TREAS 310 CHILDCTC: This is a 2021 Child Tax Credit payment that may have been received monthly between July and December.
  • IRS TREAS 310 TAXEIP3: This is an up to $1,400 per person Economic Impact Payment provided by the American Rescue Plan.
  • IRS TREAS 310 TAX REF: This is a tax refund. You may have received this after your tax return was processed. Some individuals also received a payment from the IRS with this code as a result of tax relief provided for unemployment earnings in the American Rescue Plan.

If you received tax benefits payments by mail (Treasury check):

Locate the description on the check. Monthly Child Tax Credit payments said “Advance Child Tax Credit Payment” on them. Other payments you may have received from the IRS in 2021, like Economic Impact Payments and tax refunds will have different descriptions on the check (for example, “Economic Impact Payment” or “TAX RELIEF”).

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.  Visit www.newburg.com

Newburg CPA, a Boston-based accounting firm can assist you. Contact us if you have questions.