WASHINGTON (WGHP) — The U.S. Senate is back in session today from its Thanksgiving break, and one of the key items on its agenda – along with approving military spending and raising the debt ceiling to fund the government – is the Build Back Better bill that the House passed on Nov. 19.
There are many important facets of that bill, but for families one of the most important might be the extension of the child tax credit.
You may recall that in the pandemic-driven America Rescue Plan, signed into law last summer, most families were given $250 or $300 a month for each child younger than 18. Families with children younger than age 6 received the higher amount.
Most of you who qualify have seen this deposit each month in your specified bank account, but that program ends with your deposit in December.
The $2.2 trillion Build Back Better bill would extend that amount through 2022 at the same levels. President Joe Biden’s original pitch was to have it through 2025, but that was negotiated down
Joint tax filers making up to $150,000 annually and unmarried tax filers earning up to $112,500 qualify for the payments, which would continue under monthly installments.
That bill, of course, must pass the Senate through at least a simple majority, and both Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Arizona) and Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) have expressed some concerns about aspects of the bill.
No Republican in the House voted for the bill, and North Carolina’s senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, are not expected to support it.
Tillis issued a statement that said in part: “The Democrats’ tax and spending spree won’t build back better – it will only make life harder for Americans already struggling to get by.”
The Senate at the very least would adapt the bill through adjustments or amendments, and then it would return to the House for approval there before moving to President Biden for his signature of approval. How and when that works out remains to be seen.
One certainty you need to know now: Any payments you received for the child tax credit will not be reported as income by the Internal Revenue Service for tax year 2021.
The one caveat would be if your income spiked significantly beyond the parameters the IRS specified in assessing your eligibility for the child tax credit.
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