Fourth Stimulus Check Update: How To Get $1800 Before 2021 Ends

A fourth stimulus check is still seeming highly unlikely for Americans even as concerns over the rising costs of items due to inflation and the end of nearly all COVID-19 protections continue to cause panic for some of the lowest-income families. However, some of those who are struggling may still be able to take advantage of one of the few remaining programs and receive up to $1,800 from the government before the end of the year.

The Expanded Child Tax Credits, which are running through December and providing families with children an extra $300/month for children under 6 and $250/month for children ages 6-17, can still be signed up for by those who are eligible, but have not yet received any money. According to WBFF Baltimore, those who notify the Internal Revenue Service by Nov. 15 that they are eligible, but haven’t received payments because they don’t normally file a tax return due to the amount of money they make, will be able to get a one-time payment in December of anywhere from $1,500-$1,800 per child, which equals the entire first half of the Expanded Child Tax Credit payments that have been arriving in accounts on a monthly basis since July.

Those who need to sign up can do so by going to the Child Tax Credit Update Portal on the IRS website.

Parents who already receive the payments on a monthly basis will get the second half of their credit when they file their 2021 taxes in the new year.

As for any other additional money, the Biden Administration is hoping to approve the expanded Child Tax Credits for at least an additional year in the as-of-yet not passed Build Back Better plan. While initially hoping to expand the credits until 2025, in an effort to pare down the cost of the bill and appeal to more Moderate Democrats, the credits were reduced to a one-year extension through 2022.

If the Bill is passed, then all affected families—including those who have a new child before the end of 2021—will be eligible to receive the payments for an additional year, making for a grand total of anywhere between $3,000-$3,600 per child.

Some have also called on making the tax credits a permanent part of the U.S. Economic system, though it is unclear if that will happen, or if specific requirements will be attached to such a plan.