IRS plans weekend events to help families with Child Tax Credits

The Internal Revenue Service is planning to host events this weekend in a dozen cities to help people who usually don’t file a tax return register for monthly Advance Child Tax Credit payments.

The events will take place July 9 and 10 in Atlanta, New York, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis and Washington, D.C./Maryland at the offices of various community groups. The schedule and locations can be found here.

The IRS is set to begin rolling out the expanded Child Tax Credits starting next week. The advance payments provide up to $300 per child in an effort by the Biden administration to reduce the rate of childhood poverty. The IRS plans to issue advance Child Tax Credit payments on July 15, Aug. 13, Sept. 15, Oct. 15, Nov. 15 and Dec. 15. It opened a portal and other online tools last month where parents can sign up and update their information (see story). Most parents will receive the payments automatically as long as they have previously filed tax returns, but if they normally don’t file, the public events are an effort to reach out and get parents to sign up for the benefits. Families can receive up to $3,000 or $3,600 per child, depending on their age. Eligible families will receive advance payments of the tax credit, either by direct deposit or check. Each payment will be up to $300 per month for each child under the age of six and up to $250 per month for each child ages six through 17.

“This is part of a wider effort by the IRS to reach as many people as possible who don’t file a tax return but may be eligible for the Child Tax Credit and Economic Impact Payments,” said Ken Corbin, IRS Wage and Investment Commissioner and the agency’s Chief Taxpayer Experience Officer, in a statement Wednesday. “We encourage people to share this information widely and encourage those who need help to visit these locations.”

With the help of a new Non-filer Sign-up Tool on the IRS website, volunteers and IRS employees will help eligible individuals and families receive the tax credits and benefits. This tool — which is essentially an update of the Non-Filers tool that the IRS introduced last year to help people receive the first round of Economic Impact Payments — is also designed to help individuals register for the $1,400 third round of Economic Impact Payments (also known as stimulus checks) and claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for any amount of the first two rounds of Economic Impact Payments they may have missed. The IRS said they don’t need to have their children to attend the events to sign up for Economic Impact Payments.

People can check their eligibility for the advance Child Tax Credit payments by using the new Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant.

For this coming weekend’s events, to make the sign-up process go more smoothly, the IRS is encouraging attendees to bring the following information when they visit one of the events: (1) Social Security numbers for their children; (2) Social Security numbers or Tax Identification Numbers for themselves and their spouse; (3) a reliable mailing address; (4) an e-mail address; and (5) their bank account information if they want to receive their payment by direct deposit.

The IRS intends to host more events in the future as well as work with partners inside and outside the tax community to share information with people who may be eligible for Child Tax Credits and the Economic Impact Payments. It's all part of a wider effort to raise awareness of the expanded Child Tax Credit. The IRS also encourages its partners to use available online tools and toolkits to help non-filers, low-income families, and other underserved groups sign up to receive the advance Child Tax Credit.

The Child Tax Credit is "refundable," so even if taxpayers don’t owe income taxes, the IRS will give them a refund if they’re eligible, but they need to file a tax return or register with the new Non-filer Sign-up Tool to receive it. Those who haven’t filed a 2020 tax return yet are also eligible to receive the $1,400 per person Economic Impact Payments and the Recovery Rebate Credit.