The deadline for opting out of or making any changes to the child tax credit payment is Nov. 29 at 11:59 p.m.
Many parents want to opt out to not need to pay back the IRS, while others have changes to report that could impact the upcoming payment.
Dec. 15 is the final payment of six advanced child tax credit payments. The payments are an advance on next tax season’s child tax credit refund.
Related: There are only two days left to opt out or apply to increase Child Tax Credit payments
The final payment will be the end of the first half of your total benefit.
Unenrolling can take up to one week.
Reasons parents may want to opt out of child tax credit payments
Some people want to opt out because they expect the amount of taxes they owe to be greater than their refund.
Related: A Spanish version of the child tax credit update portal is now available
By opting out they won’t need to pay as much back to the IRS.
If your income changed this year, it may put you over the threshold and also cause you to owe money.
If you made less in 2020 and did not update the portal to reflect your increase in income, you might be getting overpaid.
This applies if your spouse ends up earning more as well.
Related: Do you have kids? You could see a surprise $8,000 payment in 2022
The limit is $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.
Beyond that what you get paid begins being phased out.
If you’re married, both spouses need to unenroll for it to work. If one spouse doesn’t unenroll then half the joint payment will still be paid.
Families that are eligible receive a maximum of $300 per month for children under age 6. Children ages 6-17 qualify for a maximum of $250.
To determine eligibility, the IRS went off of the information on 2019 and 2020 tax returns.
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