Last week, about 35 million families with 60 million children got the first advance child tax credit payments from Washington. Roughly $15 billion was sent.
Barbarett Corbbins was relieved when she saw an extra $500 deposited into her bank account last week. She had received letters from the IRS that she was eligible for child tax credit payments for her two children, ages 10 and 17, but had forgotten when the money was to arrive. When she finally checked her balance the second week of July, on the advice of a friend, she saw she got $250 per child. « I was like ‘Amen,' » said Corbinns, who lives in Wheeling, West Virginia, with her kids. She’s been on medical leave from her job as a registration specialist at West Virginia University hospital since December and isn’t sure when she will be able to return. She will keep getting the $500 payment each month through the end of the year. « I’m not working, so it’s definitely going to help me continue to provide for my children and have the additional income that I need to take care of our bills and everything. » Her monthly electric bill alone is about $370, she said, and so she’s looking forward to having the extra cash to help with such expenses. Anything left over will go to savings, Corbbins said, which she was able to augment with the stimulus checks sent to her family over the course of the last year and a half. Last week, more than 35 million families with 60 million children got the first child tax credit payments from the federal government. Roughly $15 billion was sent, according to the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS. The average payment was $423, meaning some families got more and some less. The payments come from the enhanced child tax credit, part of the American Rescue Plan signed into law by President Joe Biden in March. The act boosted the existing child tax credit to $3,000 from $2,000 and added a $600 bonus for kids under the age of 6 for the 2021 tax year. Half of the credit is being distributed to families in monthly installments from July to December — for families receiving the full credit, it will be $300 per month for children under age 6 and $250 per month for those from 6 to 17.
