Child tax credit changes on the horizon due to COVID-19 relief package

TRI-STATE (WFIE) - President Joe Biden signed a nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 relief measure this week.

The American Rescue Plan Act promises to provide a significant financial boost to millions of American families.

By this point, several have likely heard about the much-anticipated stimulus checks, or perhaps the enhanced unemployment benefits, but there is another key area.

This relief package also includes updates to the “child tax credit.”

Inside the Christ Centered Youth Center, music instruction has set the bar high. The after-school program through the Evansville Salvation Army is for K-8 students at Cedar Hall Elementary School.

Their parents, similar to millions of others across the country, are anticipating added relief. With the American Rescue Plan Act signed into law, families are set to receive a $3,000 annual benefit for each child between ages 6 to 17.

Under these new provisions for the 2021 tax year, this also includes $3,600 for children under 6 years old.

“I think they’re going to be gracious for it,” Salvation Army Youth Ministry Director Tara Oakley shared. “I know several of our families here in this program - one in particular - they’re going to need a new car. So after talking to them, they’ve already said that’s what they’re spending their money on. So to be able to have that ability to do that is great.”

With this latest update, approximately four million children under 18 will be directly affected and lifted out of poverty, while roughly another six million children will move closer to the poverty line, according to calculations from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

14 News also caught up with a parent who described Henderson’s Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club as a blessing for more cost-effective child care.

“To have that little bit extra, on top of what we were getting before, is really going to be helpful for lots of families, lots of single parent families, and folks who are just struggling with how the year went,” Henderson resident Alexis Greenwood-Markle said.

The credit will be fully refundable.

People do not have to be employed to claim it.

Americans could get a payment as soon as this summer.

Copyright 2021 WFIE. All rights reserved.