For some Americans, about $10 to $13 will be deducted from their October, November and December child tax credit payments. IRS said this is because of overpayment problems that happened during the September payments.
Many eligible American families anticipate their child tax credit payments, which should have provided $300 monthly payments for children under age six and $250 payments for children of age six to 17. However, despite its successful implementation in July and August, September payments caused several problems due to a system glitch.
Child Tax Credit Payments Glitch Last September
According to an earlier report, IRS said technical issues caused delays for the September CTC payments. This affected only two percent of the eligible families.
The issue was centered around parents who filed their taxes jointly, which is the basis for CTC budgets. If these parents planned to change their banking or address information, then both parents should have applied for the change. If only one of the couple updated their information, then half of the CTC payments got affected, causing overpayments.
CTC Payment Deductions on October, November and December
Per WFAA, IRS said: "in some of these cases, the split payment caused a delay in making payments, and further caused individuals to receive slightly more than the correct payment in September. To address this, the payment that each spouse receives in October, November, and December will be reduced slightly to adjust for the overpayment."
The IRS estimated typical overpayment cost was $37.50 per child under age six and $31.25 per child between six to 17 years old. This means deductions will cost $10 to $13, depending on circumstances. IRS will send out letters explaining the sudden deduction on the October, November and December payments.
What If You Have Never Received Any Child Tax Credit Payment?
As previously mentioned, all CTC payments should have been delivered starting July. Up to date, eligible families should have received four waves of payments for July, August, September and October. If you have not received yours, then there are two possible reasons for the delay.
IRS will only provide CTC payments to registered families who filed their tax returns. Keep in mind that the tax filer will be examined for eligibility requirements. If you have not submitted your tax returns, use this online non-filer tool to submit your information. The IRS encourages late filers to apply, saying they will receive larger payments to "catch up" to early filers.
If you have already filed your tax returns but have not yet received any of the payments issued, then you should consider applying for a payment trace. According to WFAA, eligible families can request the IRS to track their payments if any of these time frames elapsed:
- Five days since the direct deposit date and the bank says it hasn't received the payment.
- Four weeks since the payment was mailed by check to a standard address.
- Six weeks since the payment was mailed and you have a forwarding address on file with the local post office.
- Nine weeks since the payment was mailed and you have a foreign address.
