Child tax credit money arrives in bank accounts shortly

One final blast of cash is set to arrive soon for roughly 36 million American families who are eligible for the advance payment for the child tax credit, as USA Today reported.

But after that, the money will stop unless Congress passes President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better social spending package, which is currently stalled in the Senate. While Democrats hope to pass the bill by Christmas, some experts warn that debate over the economic package could drag into 2022.

“It is possible that, if Congress does eventually pass the bill with the current advance payment provision still in it, the Jan. 15 payment could be made late once the IRS has the authority from Congress to issue the payment,” said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting, as USA Today reported.

The expanded child tax credit has already lifted many children out of poverty, experts note. In California, for example, the benefit has cut child poverty from 20% to 13.7% and kept more than 600,000 kids above the poverty line, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute.