Understanding the Child Tax Credit with Secretary Yellen

Hi, I'm Janet Yellen, the Treasury Secretary, and today I want to talk to you about the Expanded Child Tax Credit. It's a new and important policy that helps families raise kids, which I know can be a rewarding but expensive part of life. Here's how it works. Starting on July 15th, eligible families will receive $300 for each child under six years old and $250 for each child over six. So if you're a family with two toddlers and a seven-year-old, you'll get $850. And again, these are monthly payments, so they'll recur on the 15th of each month until the end of 2021, which is when the expanded credit expires. There's a good chance you're eligible for these payments. We expect our first set of payments in July to go out to 38 million American households, which account for more than 88 percent of kids in the country. To receive this money, most Americans have to do absolutely nothing. If you already filed an income tax return for 2020, the IRS has your information and they'll directly deposit the money into your bank account. For those who haven't filed income taxes yet, we recommend doing so as soon as possible so you can benefit from the tax credit. You can go to the IRS website where there are free services that will help you do this.