New IRS tool for child tax credit tells you if you're eligible for payments. You can use it today - CNET

Are you getting a child tax credit payment July 15?

Sarah Tew/CNET

With the first child tax credit payment arriving to millions of households in July, it's time to quickly find out if you'll also get a check. Rather than waiting until July 15 to see if you qualify, you can use a new IRS tool -- called the Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant -- that tells you if you're eligible for the payments.

If you find out that you qualify for the checks, use CNET's child tax credit calculator to see how much money you can expect to get. Unfortunately, it's too late to opt out of receiving the July check if you were hoping to get a lump sum in 2022 instead. But there's still time to unenroll from the August through December payments using the Child Tax Credit Update Portal, to receive one lump payment instead of multiple checks.

We'll explain how you'll use the IRS' Eligibility Assistant tool. If you don't have an account with the IRS yet, you can set up one using ID.me -- it's widely used by the IRS, US Treasury and Social Security Administration. Also, here's what you need to know about how the child tax credit will affect your taxes in 2022.

Child tax credit eligibility checklist

Before you begin, make sure you've got a copy of your 2020 tax return, or your 2019 tax return if you haven't filed your taxes this year yet (for example, if you filed an extension).

If you don't have your tax return on hand, you can use your filing status and the number of children you claimed, along with an estimate of your total income for 2020. 

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How to use the Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant tool

Once you've figured out what your income was for either 2020 or 2019, you can check your eligibility. Here's how.

1. Go to the Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant tool page on the IRS website.

2. Tap or click Check Your Eligibility.

3. You'll then need to answer a few questions about yourself and your taxes. For instance, the form will ask if you claimed the child tax credit on a previous tax return.

4. You may need to provide additional information, depending on how you answered the questions. Here's where you fill in your filing status, adjusted gross income and the number of children you claimed on your tax return, along with their ages.

5. After you hit Next, the tool will let you know whether you qualify based on the answers you provided. It'll also tell you the amount each kid under 6 qualifies you for, and how much each kid 6 and older qualifies you for. It'll also show you the income phase out details.

6. From here, you can tap or click Manage your advance child tax credit payments, which will take you to the child tax credit portal that lets you unenroll from the monthly payments if you prefer to get one large check instead of several smaller ones, or submit your information if you're a nonfiler.

What the eligibility tool doesn't tell you

• The personalized total you'll get from the child tax credit payment. It leaves it up to you to do the math.
• How much the payments will be reduced if your income exceeds the limit.
• All of the payment dates for the child tax credit.
• Only one parent can claim the money for any given child in a shared custody situation.

The tool leaves it up to you to calculate the total amount you'll get for the child tax credit.

Sarah Tew/CNET

What if you have a newborn baby after the payments begin?

If you have a newborn baby after the July 15 payment goes out, you'll need to update your information in the IRS Update Portal. Once the agency has your updated details on file, you'll be eligible to receive the future payments. For instance, if your baby is born July 20, you could start getting the payments in August. You'll have to wait until 2022 to get the July payment. 

If your baby is born in December, you can claim the money you didn't get from July through December when you file your taxes next year. If you have a newborn in January 2022, you won't be eligible for the larger sum of money that was approved with the American Rescue Plan, but you could be eligible for the original amount -- unless the enhanced child tax credit is extended.

For more details, here's what the payment schedule looks like for the child tax credit. Also, here's what to know if you share custody of a child and how to spend the child tax credit money when it arrives.

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