Advance Child Tax Credit Payments

If you received advance payments, when you file your 2021 tax return, you will need to compare the advance Child Tax Credit payments that you received during 2021 with the amount of the Child Tax Credit that you can properly claim on your 2021 tax return. The fastest way for you to get your tax refund that will include your Child Tax Credit is by filing electronically and choosing direct deposit.

If you received less than the amount that you’re eligible for, you’ll claim a credit for the remaining amount of Child Tax Credit on your 2021 tax return. If you received more than the amount that you’re eligible for, you may need to repay some or all of that excess payment when you file.

In January 2022, the IRS will send you Letter 6419 to provide the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that you received in 2021. You need to keep this and any other IRS letters you received about advance CTC payments you received with your tax records and refer to them when you file.

See Reconciling Your Advance Child Tax Credit Payments on Your 2021 Tax Return for more information.

In the IRS Advanced Child Tax Credit (IR-2021-255) news release, the IRS gave information on the letters that will be sent to taxpayers documenting the amounts of the Advance Child Tax Credit and third round of Economic Impact Payments that will provide information necessary to complete the taxpayers’ 2021 individual income tax returns. The letters that taxpayers will receive are:

• Letter 6419, 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit Letter
•  Letter 6475, Your Third Economic Impact Payment

The release states “the IRS urged people receiving these letters to make sure they hold onto them to assist them in preparing their 2021 federal tax returns in 2022.”