IRS will be ready to start sending monthly child tax credit payments in July, commissioner says

Checks headed to families eligible for the child tax credit are on track to go out starting in July. The Internal Revenue Service commissioner confirmed the agency expects to launch its portal for the credit on July 1, despite concerns about the challenges the IRS would face implementing a program so quickly after the passage of the American Rescue Plan. 

As part of the COVID relief package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March, the child tax credit was increased for one year with children ages 6 to 17 eligible for a $3,000 credit and children under 6 getting $3,600. The legislation also makes the benefit fully refundable and expands it to low-income families. For the first time, it also shifted half of the credit to advanced direct payments which the IRS was assigned to distribute starting in July, a move that is expected to boost millions of children out of poverty. Children younger than 6 would receive $300 a month in the second half of the year while kids 6 and older will receive $250 a month.