The American Rescue Plan, signed into law in March, made important changes to the CTC for many taxpayers. Beside increasing the CTC, the credit is now fully refundable. The maximum annual CTC will be $3,000 per qualifying child between the ages of 6 and 17, and $3,600 per qualifying child under age 6 at the end of 2021. Qualifying children must live with the taxpayer in the United States for more than half the year. Starting July 2021 to the end of the year the IRS will make advance monthly payments of half the estimated annual CTC.   

The maximum credit is available to taxpayers with modified Adjusted Gross Income of:

$75,000 or less for single taxpayers,

$112,500 or less for head of household,

$150,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return and qualifying widow(er)s and 

the maximum credit phases out for higher income taxpayers.

If you don’t wish to receive advance CTC payments, instructions on how to unenroll from these payments will be available by the end of June. 

We recommend that you create an online account with the IRS, in order to keep track of payments received and taxes paid. In order to do create the account, go to irs.gov then create or view account. 

In order to create an account, the following information is needed:

1. Your full name
2. Email address
3. Birthdate
4. Social security number or Individual tax identification number
5. Tax filing status
6. Current address

In order to verify your identity, the IRS will need one of the following:

1. Last 8 digits of Visa, Mastercard or Discover credit card or
2. Student loan other than through Nelnet or
3. Mortgage or home equity loan or
4. Home equity line of credit or
5. Auto loan

Please contact us if you have any questions about the information in this article.

Best regards,
James Diapoules and Marvin Feinstein