For those currently receiving Child Tax Credit payments, Nov. 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET is the deadline to opt-out if you no longer wish to receive them. The same deadline applies if you need to update your bank information. The last payment for 2021 is scheduled for Dec. 15.
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The unenrollment process may take up to seven days. You can check back after unenrolling to make sure your request was successfully processed. Additionally, if you’re married filing jointly, your spouse will also need to unenroll. If either party doesn’t unenroll, you will receive half of the joint payment.
December’s payment will be the sixth monthly payment this year. The final payment will bring the total to half of your total benefit amount. For eligible families, each payment is up to $300 per month for each child under the age of six and up to $250 for each child ages 6 through 17. You’ll claim the other half when you file your tax return next year, which could equate to $1,800 or $3,600 for each qualifying child, depending on age.
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There are several reasons why you may want to opt-out of receiving advance CTC payments, including if you expect the total amount of tax you owe to be greater than your refund when you file your 2021 tax return. These are advance payments of the CTC that you would normally receive when you file your tax return. Advance payments will reduce the amount of the credit you can claim on your 2021 tax return. This means that your 2021 refund may decrease or the tax amount that you owe could increase.
Another reason to opt-out is if you or your spouse passed the income threshold. This is $75,000 if filing as a single person or $150,000 filing jointly. Because the IRS used tax returns from 2019 and 2020 to determine eligibility, you may be forced to pay some of this back if your income threshold surpasses this threshold in 2021.
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To opt-out, use the IRS’s Child Tax Credit Update Portal by the Nov. 29 deadline. The portal is now available in Spanish as well.
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