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Some frustrated parents left waiting for September child tax credit payments

Many parents continued to post their frustrations online Friday about not receiving their September payments yet for the advance child tax credit.

And late Friday, the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged that a group of people are facing roadblocks. But the IRS did not detail what went wrong or state how many people still did not receive their September payment as expected.

Late Friday afternoon, the IRS said: "We are aware of instances where some individuals have not yet received their September payments, although they received payments in July and August."

The IRS continued: "These individuals may not yet be able to receive a current status on the IRS.gov Update Portal. The IRS is currently looking into this situation, and we will share more information as soon as possible."

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Up until late Friday, the IRS had been notably silent about the complaints.

The IRS announced earlier that the September batch of payments, scheduled for Sept. 15, adds up to about $15 billion nationwide and covers about 35 million families. The majority of payments, according to the IRS release, would be issued by direct deposit.

Many families did receive their money, including those who had received cash by direct deposit in July and August. Others who had received their earlier payments through a check in the mail also said they received money by Friday.

Parents and children celebrate new monthly Child Tax Credit payments and urge congress to make them permanent outside Senator Schumer's home on July 12, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York.
Parents and children celebrate new monthly Child Tax Credit payments and urge congress to make them permanent outside Senator Schumer's home on July 12, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York.

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But a very vocal group of parents took to social media and online platforms this week to express their anger after they did not receive money that's designed to help families cover bills during the pandemic, as well as lift children out of poverty.

"So like a lot of frustrated people on here, I have not received the September CTC payment," one person noted on the Reddit forum.

The Reddit commentator went on to express concern about an earlier effort to update information online with the IRS so that the parent could receive the September money via direct deposit, instead of a check in the mail.

The person feared the action triggered a glitch, noting that they received the July and August payments through the regular mail. "It said (direct deposit) would take effect this month. Still haven't gotten it. I checked the portal and it says eligible but nothing processed so far for September. Anyone else having this issue?"

A reader sent me an email that suggested a possible problem with September's payment being delayed because "the IRS didn't certify some people prior to September's payment as eligible who are actually eligible, resulting in no payment. When will it be corrected?"

One person told me via Twitter: "The error has cost people greatly, from overdrafts to utility shut offs. The IRS should not give a solid date if they don't plan on adhering to it and making excuses."

Meanwhile, some people did post that they had started receiving checks in the mail on Friday – or two days since September payments were set to be issued Sept. 15.

In this July 26, 2021 photo, Brianne Walker plays with her 3-year-old daughter, Jeannette, at A Place To Grow daycare in Brentwood, N.H. Walker and her family have qualified for the expanded child tax credit, part of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
In this July 26, 2021 photo, Brianne Walker plays with her 3-year-old daughter, Jeannette, at A Place To Grow daycare in Brentwood, N.H. Walker and her family have qualified for the expanded child tax credit, part of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

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Many families could be looking at an extra $450 a month or more, depending on the size of the family and the ages of the children.

Millions of eligible families are currently receiving up to $300 per month for each qualifying child ages 5 and younger and up to $250 per month for children ages 6 to 17. The monthly payouts run from July through December.

To be sure, many people who received direct deposits for the past two months reported no trouble getting their money Sept. 15.

But we have seen various glitches along the way since the first payments went out July 15.

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What about that August delay?

In August, for example, a trouble spot created delays for roughly 4 million people or more for the money that was expected Aug. 13. That group of people had to wait to receive checks for their August advance child tax credit, instead of receiving the money by direct deposit as took place in July.

The IRS said later in August that a "process was missed that caused a percentage of payments to be issued as paper checks instead of direct deposit." The mistake apparently happened as the IRS was preparing to issue the advance child tax credit for August.

The IRS, which apologized for the August inconvenience, was not more specific. The IRS said then that it had taken steps to ensure future payments were issued using the appropriate delivery method – either via direct deposit or paper check.

The glitch was expected to be fixed for the Sept. 15 rollout.

Luis Garcia, a spokesperson for the IRS in Detroit, told me by email on Sept. 15 that "the July/August payments issue was corrected and we don’t expect issues this month."

He noted that payments when it comes to timing can vary from bank to bank. While Sept. 15 was the official payment date, he said that the "date that the funds are available can be different."

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How do you trace missing child tax credit payments?

The IRS has a specific timeline for when you can start seeking information. For example, the IRS says you cannot trace the money until you've waited:

  • Five days since the deposit date and the bank says it hasn't received the payment.

  • Four weeks since the payment was mailed by check to a standard address.

  • Six weeks since the payment was mailed, and you have a forwarding address on file with the local post office.

  • Nine weeks since the payment was mailed, and you have a foreign address.

To start a payment trace, mail or fax a completed two-page Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund.

When are other payments scheduled?

The next round of payments will be Oct. 15, Nov. 15 and Dec. 15.

Many payments are automatic and based on information the IRS has from your 2019 or 2020 tax returns, whichever has been processed already.

The September payments went to eligible families whose returns were processed by the IRS by Aug. 30.

Payments also were sent to people who don’t typically file a return but during 2020 had successfully registered for Economic Impact Payments using the IRS Non-Filers tool on IRS.gov or in 2021 successfully used the Non-filer Sign-up Tool for advance child tax credit.

Contact Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @tompor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Child tax credit payment for September hasn't come for some parents