Hello Pine Bush parents and guardians,

Did you know that $15 billion dollars have already been distributed to over 35 million American families through the recently enhanced Child Tax Credit?  The program, which is expected to cut child poverty in half, changes the previous child tax credit (normally claimed at the end of a tax year) into a cash payment sent to qualifying families each month, and it also increased the amount of those payment to:

• $300 per month for each child under the age of 6 and
• $250 per month for each child between the ages of 6 and 17

Payments are determined by your income. For the full enhanced benefit, single taxpayers must earn less than $75,000 a year. Payments will be reduced by $50 per child for every $1,000 you earn over that limit. The limit for joint filers is $150,000.

If you are one of the 86% of American families using direct deposit for your tax refunds, you should have received your child payment last Thursday, July 15, deposited directly into your account. The payments will continue on the 15th of every month for the rest of 2021.

But recent estimations are that 4 to 8 million eligible children in the US may be missing out altogether, because their parents or guardians either do not need to file taxes or because they may not even know about this complicated, obscure-sounding, and scarcely advertised new policy.

The White House launched a website:  www.ChildTaxCredit.gov – a one-stop-shop in English and Spanish for user-friendly information on the Child Tax Credit, including a step-by-step guide to using the non-filer portal, which you have to use if you don’t file taxes. The portal is available in multiple languages.  Anyone who thinks they qualify, but did not receive any payments, should go to the website and follow directions for completing your info in the non-filer portal.

The program only lasts till the end of this year. The current authorization will run out after six months.  President Biden hopes to extend the program for five years, but that remains to be seen at this point.  I just wanted to do what I can to ensure that all Pine Bush families who qualify, claim their payments now, if they did not receive a deposit last Thursday.

Have a pleasant afternoon and a great rest of your weekend,

Tim O. Mains, Pine Bush Superintendent