President Joe Biden supports the Build Back Better Act in part because it includes a Child Tax Credit extension, which would result in additional direct payments to families in 2022.
People might receive an advance on their Child Tax Credit in the form of monthly payments beginning in July and ending in December under the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion relief package enacted in March. The payments helped to reduce child poverty, and Biden says he wants to keep it going indefinitely, despite the Build Back Better Act only extending the program through the end of 2022.
Democrats race to extend the soon-expiring Child Tax Credit
Brian Deese, head of the National Economic Council, said the Child Tax Credit portion of Build Back Better was one of the reasons the administration wanted it enacted before the end of the year at a news briefing on Thursday. The package was passed by the House in November, but it is presently blocked in the Senate; and if it fails, the Child Tax Credit will be paid for the last time on December 15, as per Newsweek.
The Internal Revenue Service has informed House Democrats that President Joe Biden's $2 trillion social and climate spending measure must be passed by December 28 in order for the January 15 round of Child Tax Credit payments to go out successfully.
Insider offered anonymity to two Democratic aides so they could speak freely about the situation. This move might pump up the pressure on Democrats to fulfill their ambitious deadline of passing the package by Christmas. The imminent deadline is being used by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to compel all 50 Senate Democrats to rally behind the bill, despite Republican opposition, Insider reported.
Despite Schumer's efforts, he's already hit with a big stumbling block: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Manchin has not endorsed the bill and stated on Wednesday that a portion of it is still being discussed. In the case that the Child Tax Credit was abruptly terminated, he told Insider that the federal government had stepped in enough with a surge of additional expenditure to support families during the epidemic.
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Will parents receive a check in January?
The present plan extends the redesigned Child Tax Credit until 2022. It pays up to $300 per month for every kid under the age of five, for a total of $3,600 per year. Families with children aged 6 to 17 can get $250 per month or $3,000 per year. It would also ensure that the great majority of American households would be able to receive the money every month, regardless of whether or not they filed taxes.
According to the Census Bureau, almost half of families receiving Child Tax Credit payments spent at least some of the money on food from late July to September, and approximately four out of ten spent it on rent, mortgages, or utilities.
Academics at Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy said if all families with qualifying children received the payments, child poverty would be reduced by up to 40%.
Per The Washington Post via MSN, with monthly payments set to expire shortly, Congress must decide whether to keep the money flowing or return to normalcy. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a woman of two children, one of whom is a toddler and the other is in elementary school, who works full-time and earns the federal minimum wage is now eligible for a $6,600 Child Tax Credit. They would lose $4,800 in credit if the enhanced payments were to halt.
