What’s happening with the Child Tax Credit?

Monthly CTC payments ended, regular CTC resumes

It’s been seven months since families across the country received the last monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payment. Since then, households received the latter half of those payments in a lump sum as part of their tax refund this year.

Much like you, we wish the monthly payments had continued. After talking with a number of SaverLife members, it was clear that the monthly payments helped alleviate some stress on household budgets. And with everything from rent to grocery bills to gas prices increasing rapidly, we know families could use the monthly CTC now more than ever.

“The Child Tax Credit has helped some of us stay in a home, rather than getting evicted.”

–Tiffaney from Winter Park, FL

Since legislation for the monthly payments did not pass, the regular CTC will revert to its previous format next year. As you may recall, the regular CTC is partially refundable up to $2,000, available to kids under 17, and arrives during tax season as a lump sum.

What happened to the expanded CTC?

Last year, the Build Back Better Act passed the House of Representatives (220-213), but it did not have the votes to pass the Senate. At the end of the day, Congress could not agree on a future plan for expanded Child Tax Credit legislation.

There are a number of government funding bills that are currently being debated on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, none of them currently include an expanded Child Tax Credit.

Looking to the future

While there is legislation still being debated, there’s no guarantee that an updated version of the federal Child Tax Credit will pass before the end of 2022. Find out if your state is offering (or planning to offer) a child tax credit check.

However, there are 16 states that already provide or will start providing a state-level CTC: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Vermont (CNET). Families can claim the existing state-level Child Tax Credit by filing a tax return—it’s not too late to claim these funds.

So while the nation waits on Congress to pass an expanded CTC package, we want to acknowledge the states that are actively working to support families and provide a version of the Child Tax Credit.

How we’ve kept fighting

Since last July, we knew we’d have to fight for the monthly CTC payments to continue into 2022. In the last couple of months, here’s how we’ve stayed committed to SaverLife members like you:

• We interviewed many SaverLife members to get and share personal testimonies about what the CTC payments meant to them and how they’ve been managing without them
• We partnered with other nonprofit organizations and coalitions to publish surveys and briefs on how families benefited from these monthly payments
• Our CEO, Leigh, and Director of Policy, Radha, shared our research findings and your stories with the media
• We met with Congressional offices to advocate that the enhanced CTC continue

So what’s next?

We won’t stop fighting for our members that would have benefitted from a continued expansion of the CTC. Multiple academic studies and national surveys have continued to publish what advocates like us have known all along: the monthly Child Tax Credit payments helped families cover their monthly necessities (food, housing, clothing, utilities), especially during economic uncertainty (CBPP).

Here’s where SaverLife stands

We believe families deserve the option to receive monthly child checks, especially at a time when household budgets are being stretched thin.

We believe there should not be a minimum income requirement for families to receive the total amount of the CTC.

We believe that all eligible families should receive the full amount of the CTC so they can have a reliable source of financial support.

We believe there should be no work requirement for families to receive the CTC. This would exclude older and disabled Americans with dependents and families without access to a job.

We believe that direct cash payments to support children and families, like the Child Tax Credit, are a promise of much-needed investment in American families.

5 things you can do right now

Your voice and vote are powerful tools, and we encourage you to use them to your advantage. Here are five actions you can do today to continue advocating for an expanded Child Tax Credit:

1. See if your state offers a state-level Child Tax Credit, which you can claim when you file your tax return. And if you haven’t yet filed taxes, it’s not too late to do that.
2. Check to see if your voter information is up to date for the November midterm election and exercise your right to have a say in policies like the Child Tax Credit.
3. Share what the monthly CTC meant to you and tag us on Twitter (@Saverlifeorg).
4. See if your state is sending gas rebate checks or stimulus money in the form of inflation-relief checks or tax rebates.
5. Contact your member of Congress (either by email or phone) and tell them how the monthly CTC payments made a difference for your family. Lawmakers appreciate hearing from the people they serve.