Fourth Stimulus Check Update: Some Families Can Still Get $3,600 This Year

Some families may be able to receive up to $3,600 in relief payments this year when they file their taxes as households across the United States continue to wait for a fourth round of stimulus checks.

On March 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the expanded federal Child Tax Credit, which was one of the provisions outlined in the American Rescue Plan. The expanded child tax credit provided American families payments totaling either $1,500 or $1,800. However, some families were not able to receive those payments or chose not to get the money.

Families that qualified for the expanded child tax credit but did not receive the payment would be able to claim their money when they file this year’s taxes. Families with children under the age of 6 are expected to receive $3,600 while those with children between the ages of 6 and 17 will be given $3,000, according to Local 12.

A single parent who makes less than $112,500 annually or a married couple filing jointly making less than $150,000 yearly qualify for the expanded child tax credit. Families with higher incomes may receive a smaller credit or may be ineligible to receive the money.

News about the expanded child tax credit payments come as the American Rescue Plan, which sent direct payments of up to $1,400 per person, reached its first anniversary on March 11. Since then, Congress has yet to indicate any plans to approve of another round of stimulus checks, even as the United States surpasses 960,000 COVID-19 deaths and 79.5 million cases.

Some states have taken the initiative to issue their own round of stimulus checks. In Utah, for example, Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is proposing to revive the enhanced child tax credits similar to the provision passed in 2021. Under the proposal, families with children aged 5 and younger will receive $350 and families with children aged 6 to 17 will get $250.

However, those who accept the money from the expanded child tax credit would have to meet certain work requirements.

Romney’s staff said the proposal, named the “Family Security Act,” has not yet been formally introduced. The terms are also currently under negotiation.