News Number of the Day Millions Won’t Automatically Get New Child Tax Credit Number of the Day: The most relevant or interesting figure in personal finance By The Balance Editors The Balance Editors We’re a team of writers and editors with decades of experience researching and answering questions about personal finances. We believe everyone should feel confident when making money decisions, and that passion drives us to make The Balance the best place to learn about finances. learn about our editorial policies Published on June 21, 2021 Fact checked by Helen Reis Fact checked by Helen Reis Helen is the senior news editor for The Balance and a veteran journalist with more than 17 years of experience, mostly in business and finance news. She is passionate about making complicated topics easy for everyone to understand and compulsive about accuracy and transparency. learn about our editorial policies That’s at least how many people might need to register to receive their monthly child tax credit payments, according to estimates from the government, which launched a national publicity campaign Monday to promote awareness of the newly revamped federal benefit. For the vast majority of eligible parents and others with child dependents, the monthly payments—which start on July 15—will arrive in bank accounts automatically. But there are some who will need to register because they don’t make enough money to need a federal income tax return. (Or because they filed recent returns without claiming their children.) The White House has created a new website—childtaxcredit.gov—to make sure everyone who’s eligible gets the funds. And non-filers can now use the IRS’s new online sign-up tool, launched earlier this month, to register. President Joe Biden, who designated Monday as Child Tax Credit Awareness Day, released a video on Twitter to promote the non-filer tool, calling on families to spread the word about the expanded benefit, particularly to low-income families who need it most. The estimate of 2 million is a Treasury Department estimate of people who claimed 2.27 million children on healthcare-related tax forms but not on 2019 or 2020 income tax forms. As authorized in the latest pandemic relief bill, U.S. residents in 2021 are eligible for a child tax credit of up to $3,600 per child (up from a maximum of $2,000 for 2020), depending on the child’s age and the income of the household. Half of the credit will be given to families in advance, through monthly payments, unless they opt to get the entire amount at tax time. Note The non-filers tool has drawn criticism because it only works on laptop or desktop computers, not mobile phones. This makes it less accessible to lower-income families who are less likely to have a computer, according to the People’s Policy Project, a progressive think tank that’s called for the child tax credit to be replaced by a simplified benefit delivered by the Social Security Administration. Only about 54% of households making less than $30,000 have computers, while 71% have smartphones, a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. U.S. Department of the Treasury. "By ZIP Code: Number of Children under Age 18 with a Social Security Number Who Are Not Found on a Tax Year 2019 or 2020 Tax Return but whoAppear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders."Appear on a Tax Year 2019 Form 1095 and Associated Number of Policy Holders." Accessed June 21, 2021. Twitter. "@POTUS, 9:30 a.m., June 21, 2021." People's Policy Project. "The Child Tax Credit Non-Filer Tool Is a Mess." Pew Research Center. "Lower-Income Americans Have Lower Levels of Technology Adoption."