It’s your favorite CPAs, again, with an update to what our industry is calling “another miserable tax season.” This time it involves Letter 6419 that the IRS began sending last month to reflect the advance payments of the Child Tax Credit. It has been discovered, a bit late in the game, that the amounts on the letters may be outdated.
What does this mean for you? Unfortunately, you will have to do the IRS’ job for them and track down your advanced payments. There are two ways of doing this. The first is to go through your bank account. If you received direct deposits, then the payment codes will look like this:
If you received the payments by mail, the description on the check will read “Advance Child Tax Credit.” Other payments will have descriptors such as “Economic Impact Payment” or “TAX RELIEF.” You will need to add all amounts with the advance child tax credit coding/description to determine the total advance payments received in 2021.
The second option is to match the Letter 6419 you received to the Child Tax Credit portal. The portal has changed and can be accessed using this link:
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal
If you do not already have access to the CTC portal, then you will need to create an account with the IRS or an IRS ID.me account. The portal should reflect a listing of payments processed for 2021. If you use this option, you may want to check these payments against your bank account as the portal may be outdated as well.
After you have confirmed your advance CTC payments using either of the above options, please include the total advance payments received with your tax documents.
We are hoping hiccups like these will not continue throughout busy season, but the dumpster fire has been lit, and it looks like it will keep us warm through April.
Your TLG Tax Team
