The IRS said it sent out the third advance child tax credit (CTC) payments this week with no major hiccups. But over 200 parents contacted Make It Friday to say that they haven’t yet received the third direct deposit, despite getting the first two without issue.
The third CTC payment was scheduled for Wednesday, September 15, and many households reported receiving their deposits. But two days later, screenshots of the IRS’s CTC update portal reviewed Make It show that many other parents have not received a deposit, and that the payments have not even been processed yet.
Katrina Smith, 39, had no issues receiving July and August’s payments, which covered her three eligible children and were worth $750 each ($250 for each child), but has not gotten September’s yet, despite the IRS’s portal saying she is still eligible.
“Many of us are depending on that money because we are still behind due to being out of work during Covid or just because that money is ours,” says Smith, who lives in North Carolina. “If we agreed to receive the payments, we should be receiving them, and at least be given honest information if there is a problem.”
Make It reached out to the IRS earlier this week about reported payment delays, and an agency spokesperson said there was “no indication of widespread issues” with September’s payments.
The agency has not responded to additional inquiries as of Friday afternoon.
Parents who have called the IRS have received differing responses, ranging from being told they will get the deposits in five days to hearing that they will not get one at all this month, and instead will receive larger catch-up payments the next three months. Still others were told they would get the payment when they file their 2021 taxes.
Brian Johnson, 44, says he and his wife were planning to use their $800 payment for their car payment, which is due on the 19th. Now, with no deposit in their bank account, the Wisconsin resident says they are in a “tight spot.”
“While we’re grateful for the advanced tax credits in a time when everything seems to be a struggle, the amount of stress that’s been added as a result of no payment for this month is insane,” Johnson says. “We just want to catch a break and not worry about things that seemed to be working just fine up until a few days ago.”
Candace Emmett, 33, is also frustrated, not just that she has not received her September payment yet, but that the agency is giving so many different answers to those who are able to get a representative on the phone.
“We need this money or we would have opted out,” says the Pennsylvania resident, who received $250 in July and August. “Right now that leaves us counting change and hoping to make it by.”
This is not the first issue with the advance payments. In August, about 15% of payments meant to be direct deposited into bank accounts were sent as paper checks due to a technical error, delaying when families received them.
