BUFFALO (WBEN) - Congressman Brian Higgins made a stop in Amherst Monday to share details on the expanded Child Tax Credit, as the American Rescue Plan increased the credit from $2,000 to $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17, and to $3,600 for children under 6.
"The improved Child Tax Credit will strengthen the middle class and cut child poverty in half," said Higgins. "Most local families will be eligible, and approximately 91% of the kids in our district and nearly 400,000 children across Western New York's three congressional districts will benefit from this."
The legislation allows for families to receive the credit in advance in the form of monthly payments of $300 for each child under 6 and $250 per child 6 and up.
Families can receive up to 50% of the credit through this monthly payment initiative during the last six months of 2021. The other 50% will be issued in tax returns when filing 2021 taxes next spring.
Payments will begin on July 15 and will continue to be distributed on the 15th of each month through December, and the IRS estimates 39 million households, including 88% of children in the United States, will automatically receive the payments without further action.
However, if families have not yet filed 2019 or 2020 taxes or are not required to file taxes, additional steps need to be taken to ensure that the additional credit is received. Non-filers should use this portal to provide the IRS with the necessary information.
"If the parents' income is too low on a regular basis to have to file income taxes, then those parents can go that tax credit portal and just register for the information," said Sheri Scavone, executive director of the WNY Women's Foundation. "It's those who need it the most whose information isn't there - they don't file taxes on a regular basis because their income is so low, so you think about 24,000 single moms in Erie County alone, many of them are in school or working lower paying jobs and probably don't file to begin with.
"To me, that's what this is about - getting the message out."