Child Tax Credit Calculator Shows How Much You’ll Get in Monthly Payments from IRS

Yesterday was tax day, so hopefully, you managed to get your taxes in on time so that the IRS knows how many dependents you have, what your income was last year, or if you missed a stimulus payment so you can take advantage of those Recovery Rebate Credits in case you didn’t get your $1,400 check. 

If you didn’t file your taxes on time, it’s not the end of the world (obviously, extensions exist) but it could be annoying if you’re a member of the 88 percent of American households with children who are set to start receiving monthly child allowance payments to the tune of $300 or so by July 15. 

Those child allowance payments, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, and are an expansion of the child tax credit to make it fully refundable and to allow half of the payment to come in monthly installments, with the other half being paid out at next year’s tax time. It’s basically an advance on a tax refund — but because it’s monthly, it’s more like a basic allowance for parents of kids aged 0 to 17 to help them, well, parent.

Estimated to reduce child poverty by half if it gets its extension to 2025, the child allowance is the first of its kind, going to nearly all American households — except for those at upper-income levels. But just how much money parents get is up to a number of things:

  • how the tax filer files,
  • how many children they have,
  • if they share custody, or
  • how much money they make.

That’s where CNET has stepped in and created a super nifty calculator for parents to see just how much money they’ll be getting from the government in a first-of-its-kind nearly universal benefit. The payment does start to peter out at higher incomes, so the calendar is a good way to see just how much money will start hitting your account periodically by mid-July. You just need to enter your filing status, your adjusted gross income, and the number of kids you have in the two age thresholds (0 to 5 and 6 to 17) and you’ll get to see just how much cash you can expect.