Some Hoosiers received the first monthly installment of a child tax credit Thursday. It’s a one-year-only program from the American Rescue Plan designed to help families emerge from the pandemic.
Families can get an automatic tax credit of at least $3,000 per child. The exact amount depends on their age.
Each child under 6 years old merits a $3,600 credit, while families with children aged 6 to 17 will see $3,000 in credits.
But it’s not all at once: half is paid monthly from now until December, while the other half comes at tax time.
READ MORE: The Expanded Child Tax Credit Is Here. Here's What You Need To Know
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Andy Nielsen with the Indiana Institute for Working Families said they estimate it will cut child poverty in the state almost in half. Even so, he expects there might be “hiccups” in rolling out the new program.
“Folks are already concerned about getting payments to families, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good policy and it doesn’t mean it isn’t going to have a demonstrable impact on poverty in our state," he said.
For a family that might qualify but hasn’t filed taxes recently, the IRS has an online tool for them to claim the child tax credit.
The expanded credit could be extended to future years as part of upcoming spending legislation set to make it's way through Congress soon.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled Andy Nielsens's name as Andy Neiman.
Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.