The sixth and final advance payment of the child tax credit for 2021 is scheduled to be deposited next week, but the future of the program is still unknown.

                By                    Georgina Tzanetos

See: Taxes 2021: How the Child Tax Credit and Student Loans Could Reduce Your Total Refund Find: Didn’t Get Your Child Tax Credit? Here’s How to Track It Down

A group of 95 Congressional Democrats is strongly pushing the Senate to pass President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better spending bill by the end of December to avoid any lapse in payments.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Washington and Chair of the New Democrat Coalition urged the Senate to pass the legislation, stating: “Our members stood united in passing the Build Back Better Act last month and now it is time for the Senate to act before the expanded Child Tax Credit payments expire at the end of December.”

Under the proposed legislation, the Child Tax Credit would be extended for one additional year.

“American families cannot afford to lose this critical middle-class tax cut, which has cut child poverty in half and helped millions of families afford childcare, pay their bills, and put food on the table.”

The current child tax credit has been distributed in monthly payments of either $250 or $300 for each eligible dependent child depending on age and income. The entire benefit amount will amount to $3,600 per eligible child maximum, with half of the benefit, $1,800 deposited in the six monthly payments. The other half will be eligible during next year at tax time.

In addition to the push from legislators, Biden has made clear several times in the past his ambitions for extending the child tax credit for at least an additional year. 

See: 10 Million Children Will Return to Poverty if the Child Tax Credit Ends Find: Could Biden’s Build Back Better Plan Make Inflation Worse? Senior Economists Are Torn, but Not Overly Concerned

Although there is a significant push to continue the payments, as of now, next week’s payment of Dec. 15, is currently the last scheduled advance payment. The other half of the credit will be available to families to be claimed next year when taxes are filed.

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