Today, as monthly Child Tax Credit payments from the American Rescue Plan begin to go out, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) hosted a roundtable to discuss this critical support for families across Texas’ Seventh Congressional District.  She was joined by TX-07 families who will benefit from the Child Tax Credit, as well as representatives from the Internal Revenue Service, Lone Star Legal Aid, and BakerRipley, which have been working to ensure vulnerable families are able to receive this relief.

The American Rescue Plan, signed into law in March, enhanced the Child Tax Credit to provide children and their families with monthly payments for the rest of the year to help them with the costs of food, childcare, diapers, health care, clothing, and other essential items.  82.5 of children in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District are estimated to benefit from these monthly payments, $250 per month per child aged 6-17, and $300 per month for every child aged 0-5.  Across the district, families with children in poverty are estimated to receive $5,200 on average.

“Today, help is here for families across our community through the expanded Child Tax Credit,” said Congresswoman Fletcher.  “With an estimated benefit to 82.5 percent of children in our district, it is vital to ensure that families know about the expanded credit and how to access it.  I am grateful to join our community partners to make sure that those who need it the most can access this critical support and to hear from constituents about what this support means to them.”

“Through our BakerRipley tax centers, we know what a significant impact the expanded Child Tax Credit will have on families.  Our neighbors are hardworking people, and even when they’re working multiple jobs, they still struggle to make ends meet,” said David Haines, BakerRipley Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer.  “We are happy our congressional leaders found it necessary to take action on behalf of our communities who need these additional resources.”

“The 2021 Advanced Child Tax Credit payments are a tool being employed by the Federal Government as part of the American Rescue Plan, to get valuable dollars into the pockets of taxpayers who can better benefit from using them now as opposed to waiting until the end of the year to claim the full value on their tax return.  The monthly payments are rated at up to half the value of the full Child Tax Credit and paid monthly for the remainder of 2021.  This initiative should be an effective way to ensure that parents have access to vital dollars now to ensure the needs of their family are met during this difficult time,” said Adam Matlock, Staff Attorney, Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at Lone Star Legal Aid.

The American Rescue Plan expanded the Child Tax Credit to up to $3,600 per child for children ages 0 to 5 and $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17.  Advance monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit will begin going out monthly starting today and continue through December 2021.  Qualifying families can get up to: 

• $300 a month per child for children ages 0 to 5. 
• $250 a month per child for children ages 6 to 17. 

Families will get their remaining expanded Child Tax Credit when they file their 2021 tax return. 

Child Tax Credit and TX-07:

According to estimates by the House Committee on Appropriations:

• 170,100 children across Texas’ Seventh Congressional district are eligible to benefit from these monthly payments, totaling 82.5 percent of children in the district
• Families with children in poverty in TX-07 will receive $5,200 on average.
• 49,900 households could get an average total benefit of $3,000.  
• 15,900 children in TX-07 will be lifted out of poverty, and 3,600 will be lifted out of deep poverty.

According to the White House estimates, 6.6 million Texas families are estimated to receive a child tax credit, helping lift 503,000 Texas children out of poverty.

Qualifying for Child Tax Credit

Families will qualify for a full credit if their income is below $75,000 for single filers, $112,000 for people filing as head of household, or $150,000 for people who are married and filing jointly.  

Families should get their monthly benefits automatically beginning today if they’ve filed tax returns for 2019 or 2020, or if they’ve signed up to receive a stimulus payment from the Internal Revenue Service.  Families who did not file a tax return for 2019 or 2020 and who did not use the IRS Non-filers tool last year to sign up for the Economic Impact Payments, should go online and use the IRS Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool to sign up.  

Families will be able to determine their eligibility, check the status of their payments and more at IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021.