Child Tax Credit Payment Dates: When to Expect $300 September Payment, How to Track Delayed Money

According to the IRS, eligible families who missed their September child tax credit payments should receive the money by direct deposit or payment "in the coming days." The IRS also highlighted several reminders for the ongoing payments.

A few weeks back, IRS confirmed that they had technical issues that created delays for the September child tax credit payments. Families who received their July and August payments should have received their third CTC payment last September 15. Instead, two percent of these eligible families found their payments missing.

Child Tax Credit September Payment Delays: Now Resolved

In a statement on September 24, the IRS said, "we know people depend on receiving these payments on time and we apologize for the delay."

Fortunately, the IRS seemed to have resolved the issue. IRS reportedly sent out the delayed payments starting Friday last week. Eligible families are requested to check their banks for confirmation or wait out the paper mail that should drop by anytime soon.

Ideally, the September CTC payments should be resolved and delivered before the next payment on October 15.

Child Tax Credit Payment Dates: How to Check if You're Missing CTC Money

Unfortunately, there could be some families that have never received their July or August payments. There are multiple reasons why this could happen.

Eligible families need to file either a 2019 or 2020 tax return to process their CTC payments. IRS said it's never too late to sign up for it. Families who filed late are also eligible for $600-plus catch-up payments, a program where the IRS would increase monthly payments to catch-up to previous payments.

Another reason for missing payments is the wrong bank or mailing address. The IRS recommends recipients to update their information regularly in the child tax credit portal, especially if they recently changed address.

Missing Child Tax Credit Payments: How to File a Payment Trace

According to The Herald Sun, eligible families can also file a payment trace to track their missing child tax credit payments. However, a payment trace would only be accepted if the payment has been missing for:

• more than five days since the deposit date, and the bank says it hasn't received the payment
• more than four weeks since the payment was sent via mail
• more than six weeks since the payment was mailed to families with a forwarding address
• more than nine weeks since the payment was sent to an address outside the U.S.

Based on these requirements, families who filed their 2019 or 2020 tax returns but have not received their July and August child tax credit payment could apply for a payment trace. Unfortunately, the September CTC payment trace would likely to be rejected.

A complete guide on how to open a payment trace is available in this article. Also, note that this payment trace could be used for missing stimulus payments.

For now, eligible families who are missing their September payments are recommended to stay put and wait for a few more days. Hopefully, the money should be well on its way to your address.