Federal housing law
0821 Publ 5537 (PDF)
Federal housing law as enacted — verbatim and citable.
- Edition
- 2026-10-03
- Last updated
- 2026-10-04
- Jurisdiction
- United States
Official source: IRS Forms, Instructions & Publications (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5537.pdf), retrieved 2026-10-03. U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. § 105).
IRS Toolkit 2 for Partners: Advance Payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit¶
This toolkit has valuable information for IRS partners to share with people who:
Don’t know if they qualify for the Child Tax Credit
Have qualifying children for the Child Tax Credit
Don’t normally file a tax return but qualify for the Child Tax Credit
Have no permanent address, bank account or income
Want to check if they’re enrolled to receive advance payments
Want to unenroll to stop getting advance payments
Need to provide or update their bank account information for advance payments
Want to check the status of their advance payments
It includes information on IRS tools related to the advance payments:
The Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant
Non-Filer Sign-up Tool
Child Tax Credit Update Portal
It also includes resources and materials, some in multiple languages, for IRS partners to share in their community or throughout their organization. These include:
IRS.gov content
QR codes for Child Tax Credit information
Questions & Answers on advance payments of the Child Tax Credit
User guide
Ready-to-use articles
Tax Tips
Fact sheet
E-posters
IRS videos on YouTube
Social media content
August 2021¶
Publication 5537 (Rev. 8-2021) Catalog Number 38903G Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov
Partners: Please share info about advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit
Dear partners,
The American Rescue Plan Act expanded the 2021 Child Tax Credit so that more people qualify, the credit is larger and fully refundable, and some people can get part of the credit in advance. This toolkit includes basic information and resources to help people learn about these payments and for IRS partners to help spread the word.
Here’s how you can help:
Remind people that IRS.gov is the official resource for the advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. The IRS has created a special Advance Child Tax Credit 2021 page at IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021, designed to provide the most up-to-date information about the credit and the advance payments. It’s the only place to access the official CTC Eligibility Assistant, the Non-filer Sign-up tool and the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
Share information and materials in this toolkit with constituents, friends, family, community organizations and others through your social media accounts, website, newsletters, emails or other methods. The IRS urges government representatives and agencies, community groups, non-profits, associations, education groups and anyone else with connections to people with qualifying children to share this critical information about the Child Tax Credit.
Remind people who don’t normally file a tax return that they may be eligible for these payments. Tell them about the Non-filer Sign-up Tool on IRS.gov and encourage them to register. They may also qualify for Economic Impact Payments and the Recovery Rebate Credit – which can add up to thousands of dollars for a family. If you can help people use the tool, please see our user guide, Publication 5538 for step-by-step instructions. It’s available at IRS.gov/CTCresources in English,
Spanish, Chinese Simplified, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian and Haitian Creole.
- Share information about helpful Advance Child Tax Credit tools and resources. There is more information on the tools later in this guide. To get the latest news:
o Subscribe to the Outreach Connection for Individuals page to get
announcements about these Child Tax Credit tools and materials relating to them. You’ll get alerts when we post outreach materials, IRS Tax Tips, news releases and more.
o Follow the IRS on its social media platforms – and please share our content
from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
- Warn people to watch for scams. The IRS doesn’t initiate contact with people by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. People should watch out for websites and social media attempts that request money or personal information and for schemes tied to Advance Child Tax Credit payments, Economic Impact Payments or other tax topics. Report these
scams to the IRS.
Thank you for your help!
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In this guide …¶
Advance Payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit Page 4
What are Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Page 4 Who qualifies? Page 4 Who is a qualifying child? Page 4 How are payments calculated? Page 5 When and where will payments be received? Page 5 Is action needed? Page 6
Special circumstances Page 6
Don’t normally file a tax return Page 6 No permanent address Page 6 No bank account for direct deposit Page 7
About IRS Advance Child Tax Credit tools and resources Page 7
Chart: Which tool should I use? Page 8
Materials to Share: Advance Payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit Page 9
IRS.gov resources Page 9 QR codes Page 9 Questions and Answers Page 9 Ready to use articles Page 9 IRS Tax Tips Page 10 Fact sheet Page 10 E-posters Page 10 IRS videos on YouTube Page 15 Social media content Page 15
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Advance Payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit¶
There have been important changes to the Child Tax Credit that will help many families receive advance payments July through December 2021.
What are Advance Child Tax Credit payments? Advance Child Tax Credit payments are early payments from the IRS of 50 percent of the estimated amount of the Child Tax Credit that you may properly claim on your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. These monthly payments will be made July through December 2021.
Who qualifies? You qualify for advance Child Tax Credit payments if you have a qualifying child.
Also, you — or your spouse, if married filing a joint return — must have your main home in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia for more than half the year.
You don’t have to have income, a job or a permanent address to be eligible for advance payments of the Child Tax Credit.
Your main home can be any location where you regularly live. Your main home may be your house, apartment, mobile home, shelter, temporary lodging or other location and doesn’t need to be the same physical location throughout the taxable year. If you’re temporarily away from your main home because of illness, education, business, vacation or military service, you are generally treated as living in your main home.
Who is a qualifying child for purposes of the 2021 Child Tax Credit? For tax year 2021, a qualifying child is an individual who does not turn 18 before January 1, 2022, and who satisfies the following conditions:
The individual is the taxpayer’s son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister or a descendant of any of them (for example, a grandchild, niece or nephew).
The individual does not provide more than one-half of his or her own support during
The individual lives with the taxpayer for more than one-half of tax year 2021.
The individual is properly claimed as the taxpayer’s dependent.
The individual does not file a joint return with the individual’s spouse for tax year 2021 or files it only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid.
The individual was a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or U.S. resident alien.
More details on eligibility are available in the 2021 Child Tax Credit and Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Frequently Asked Questions, Topic B: Eligibility for Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and the 2021 Child Tax Credit.
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How are payments calculated? Advance payments will be calculated and paid automatically based on an estimate of the amount of the Child Tax Credit that a person will claim on their 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season.
We estimate your 2021 Child Tax Credit based on information on your processed 2020 tax return. If we haven’t processed your 2020 tax return when we determine your advance Child Tax Credit payment amount, we’ll use information shown on your 2019 tax return or information you entered into the Non-Filer tool on IRS.gov in 2020. Once we process your 2020 return, we’ll recalculate your advance Child Tax Credit payments and adjust any remaining monthly payments.
Eligible taxpayers who don’t want to receive advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit can unenroll from advance payments using the Child Tax Credit Update Portal.
For tax year 2021, qualifying families claiming the Child Tax Credit will receive:
Up to $3,000 per qualifying child between the ages of 6 and 17 at the end of 2021
Up to $3,600 per qualifying child under age 6 at the end of 2021
The total of the advance payments will be up to 50 percent of the Child Tax Credit.
This means that eligible families can receive advance payments of up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child age 6 and above.
The maximum credit is available to taxpayers with a modified adjusted gross income of:
$75,000 or less for single filers and married persons filing separate returns,
$112,500 or less for heads of household, and
$150,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return and qualifying widows and widowers.
Above these income amounts, the Child Tax Credit phases out in two different steps based on modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021. For more details on payment calculations and phaseouts, see the 2021 Child Tax Credit and Advance Child Tax Credit Payments FAQs:
When will payments be received? Advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit will be made monthly from July to December to eligible taxpayers who have a main home in the United States for more than half the year.
Payments will be issued on July 15, August 13, September 15, October 15, November 15 and December 15.
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Is action needed? Eligible taxpayers don’t need to take any action now other than to file their 2020 tax return if they haven’t done so.
The IRS urges people with children to file their 2020 tax returns as soon as possible to make sure they're eligible for the appropriate amount of the CTC as well as any other tax credits they're eligible for, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Filing electronically with direct deposit also can speed refunds and future advance CTC payments.
People who normally don’t file a tax return can register for advance payments using the IRS’s Non-Filer Sign-Up Tool. Learn more below under Special Circumstances .
Eligible taxpayers who don’t want to receive advance payments of the 2021 Child Tax Credit can decline receiving advance payments by visiting the IRS Child Tax Credit Update Portal to unenroll.
In the coming months, taxpayers will also have the opportunity to update information about changes in their income, filing status or the number of qualifying children. Continue to check irs.gov/childtaxcredit2021.
Special circumstances¶
Some individuals may not normally file, may not have a permanent address or a bank account and may need assistance claiming their Advance Child Tax Credit payments, Economic Impact Payment or other tax benefits.
Don’t normally file a tax return People who didn’t file a tax return for 2019 or 2020 and who didn’t use the IRS Non-filers tool last year to register for Economic Impact Payments should use the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up tool to register for monthly Advance Child Tax Credit payments.
The tool enables them to provide required information about themselves, their qualifying children age 17 and under, their other dependents, and their direct deposit bank information so the IRS can quickly and easily deposit the payments directly into their checking or savings account. Publication 5538, A Step-by-Step Guide to Using the Non- filer Sign-up Tool for Child Tax Credit & Economic Impact Payments, is available at IRS.gov/CTCresources. The guide is also available in Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Korean, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole and Russian.
No permanent address People can get advance payments of the Child Tax Credit, Economic Impact Payments or other credits even if they don’t have a permanent address. For example, someone experiencing homelessness may list the address of a friend, relative or trusted service provider, such as a shelter, drop-in day center or transitional housing program, on the return filed with the IRS. If someone is unable to choose direct deposit, a check for the tax refund and a check or debit card for the third EIP can be mailed to this address.
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No bank account for direct deposit The fastest way to get your tax refund, Economic Impact Payments or advance payments of the Child Tax Credit is to have it direct deposited - contactless and free – into your bank account, prepaid debit card or mobile app. You’ll need to provide the routing and account numbers no matter which option you choose.
Many financial institutions will help a person open a low-cost or no-cost bank account. Individuals who open accounts will then have an account and routing number to claim a direct deposit of their tax refund, their Economic Impact Payment and the advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. People who normally file a tax return can use the Child Tax Credit Update Portal to add their new bank account information.
However, if you didn’t file a tax return for 2019 or 2020 and didn’t use the IRS Non-filers tool last year to register for Economic Impact Payments, you should use the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up tool to register for monthly Advance Child Tax Credit payments and provide your bank account information for direct deposit.
Here are some resources for opening a bank account:
Visit the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) website for details, in both English and Spanish, on opening an account online. Among other things, people can also use the FDIC’s BankFind tool to locate a nearby FDIC-insured bank.
BankOn, American Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of
America, and the National Credit Union Administration have all compiled lists of banks and credit unions that can open an account online. For veterans, see the Veterans Benefits Banking Program for access to financial services at participating banks.
About IRS Advance Child Tax Credit tools and online resources¶
The Internal Revenue Service has some online tools designed to help families manage and monitor the advance monthly payments of Child Tax Credits under the American Rescue Plan.
A special Advance Child Tax Credit 2021 page at IRS.gov/childtaxcredit2021 provides the most up-to-date information about the credit and the advance payments, including links to the tools.
Families can use the chart below to help them determine which tools they may need to use. See our Resources and Guidance page for user guides.
Partner materials about these tools are in the next section of this toolkit. Please share information about these tools.
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| If you need to …. | Then use this tool |
|---|---|
Check your eligibilityfor the Child Tax Credit |
The Eligibility Assistant helps you determine if you might be eligible for advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. Available in English and Spanish. |
Registerfor advance payments of the Child Tax Credit ifyou don’t normally have to file |
The Non-filer Sign-up Tool helps people who normally don’t have to file a tax return complete a simplified return to get advance Child Tax Credit payments, the Recovery Rebate Credit and Economic Impact Payments. |
Verify your identitybefore using the Child Tax Credit Update Portal |
Go to theChild Tax Credit Update Portal and click “Manage Advance Payments.” If you are a new user, you mustcreate an ID.me account at the IRS and verify your identity. If you have an existing account with the IRS, use your Secure Access username and password and enter the security code as part of the multi- factor authentication (MFA) process. If you have an existing account with ID.me from a state government or federal agency, you may use your email and password and complete MFA. ID.me is a trusted third party. |
Unenrollfrom advance payments of the child tax credit |
You can use the Child Tax Credit Update Portal to unenroll from automatic payments if you: • prefer to claim the full credit when filing your 2021 tax return, or • you know you’re not eligible because your situation changed for 2021. |
Manage bank account information |
The IRS will issue payments to the bank account you included on your 2020 or 2019 tax return or to an account known to the federal government, such as an account where you receive Social Security, veterans or railroad retirement benefits.Those who are not enrolled for direct deposit will receive a mailed check.Use the Child Tax Credit Update Portal if you need to update your bank account information or add a bank account. |
View your payment history |
After payments are issued, the** Child Tax Credit Update Portal** tool will show your payment dates and amounts. |
Update your mailing address |
Starting in late August, you can use the Child Tax Credit Update **Portal **to update your address. (Timing subject to change.) |
Report updatesthat could affect your payment amounts |
Starting in early fall, you can use the Child Tax Credit Update Portalto report updates that affect your payment amounts such as changes to: • number of qualifying children • marital status • income • custody agreement If your situation has changed in 2021, updating this information will help you get the most accurate amount of advance payments. |
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