Many Americans received their last advance payment on Dec. 15, but some are still missing their child tax credit payment.
This could be because they opted out and are waiting for that final payment, or they opted out to claim the whole payment in 2022.
The advanced payments were part of the American Rescue Act to help families that were struggling financially due to COVID-19.
Anyone that did not get the payments is going to have a chance to recover them with their taxes in 2022.
Related: $10,000 in grant money available to childcare providers
How to find if you’re missing child tax credit payments
To be sure, double check that you’re eligible for the child tax credit payments to begin with.
You can check by using the CTC Update Portal through the IRS.
If you find that you are eligible but are still missing a payment, see if you have the correct address and banking information.
Sometimes the payment is just late.
Related: How to claim the Recovery Rebate Tax Credit for 2021 next tax season
You can check under Processed Payments to see if the payment was sent at all.
You need an ID.me account and IRS username to use the portal.
Child tax credit and 2022 tax season
A letter is being sent to families in early 2022 that details what they received for advanced payments.
This is to help errors or delays in payments from happening.
Related: Keep these 3 changes in mind before you file your 2022 tax return
If the letter shows an amount you did not receive, file a Form 3911 to trace the payment.
Before requesting a trace, the IRS wants you to follow guidelines depending on your circumstances.
You should wait 5 days past the deposit day and your bank says they never received the payment.
For being sent by mail to a standard address, the wait to file a trace is 4 weeks. People with checks going to forwarded addresses should wait 6 weeks, or 9 weeks for a foreign address.
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