You might get TWO child tax credit stimulus checks in February if Congress passes bill

FAMILIES could receive two child tax credit payments in February 2022 if a new bill is passed to continue the stimulus relief program.

Monthly direct payments of between $250 and $300 have been issued since July 15 to eligible families with the second half of the cash to come as a $1,800 lumpsum in the 2022 tax season.

Eligible families who opted out of the monthly payments will receive the full $3,600 in 2022, as will families with a new dependent for whom they did not receive the cash this year.

Joe Biden’s administration had hoped to continue the advanced child tax credit payments for at least another year – if not until 2025 – with the passing of the Build Back Better plan.

It would mean that families would continue to receive the $300 payment on the 15th of every month starting again in 2022 from January 15.

West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin refused to back the $1.9trillion plan, however.

With the Senate now adjourned for the year, the IRS will now not have the time to process payments for January, even if it were to go ahead in the early days of next year.

It means that on January 15, families won’t see $300 arrive in their bank accounts for the first time in six months.

Yet the Biden administration is reportedly workshopping a bill that will see the payment return in February – and will issue a back payment for the January installment lost.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this month that the hope was to reinstate the advanced child tax credit payments in 2022 and add an extra one.

Read our child tax credit live blog for the very latest news and updates…

“If we get it done in January, we’ve talked to Treasury officials and others about doing double payments in February as an option,” she said.

The new bill being workshopped will act in the same way as the previous advanced payments.

Those who opt-out or are not registered for the first few months will receive the payments for the months they missed with the first installment they are registered for.

For example, if an eligible family is not registered until March, they will receive $900 per child including the payments for January, February, and March.

While the White House is floating the idea of this extra child tax credit bill, it reportedly also remains hopeful that Build Back Better can be passed despite Manchin’s pushback.

It could decide to break up the plan into smaller bills and vote on each one to get some aspects of the larger piece of legislation through Congress.

MANCHIN’S PUSHBACK

The battle may become even harder for Biden in 2022 – a midterm year.

Both Republicans and Democrats may be unwilling to show support for the president in an election year, meaning he could lose vital votes, such as Manchin, to get it passed.

Manchin, a Democrat representing West Virginia, is a key vote in a split Senate, as Democrats need all 50 of their members in the chamber to vote in favor of the plan for it to succeed.

He has frequently voiced his concerns over the cost of the $1.9 trillion spending plan – which would expand social spending, childcare, health care, and provide funds to tackle climate change.

“If I can’t go home and explain it to the people of West Virginia, I can’t vote for it,” Manchin said on Fox News earlier this month.

“And I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation.”

REPLACE THE CHILD TAX CREDIT

The child tax credit payments were brought earlier this year under the American Rescue Plan, and the last payments went out on December 15.

The payments provided up to $300 per month to parents with children under the age of six.

Families with children between the ages of six and 17 received $250 per month, while college-aged students between 18 and 24 received a one-time payment of $500.

All households with children who qualified for the $1,400 stimulus check that went out in March 2021 were eligible for the child tax credit.

We explain five ways you can try to replace the child tax credit payments.