Many Adults with Lower Income Prefer Monthly Child Tax Credit Payments

Families typically receive the child tax credit (CTC) as part of an annual refund after filing their tax returns. The American Rescue Plan Act changed that temporarily. From July to December 2021, the Internal Revenue Service automatically delivered up to half the anticipated annual credit to most families with children in monthly payments. New data from the Urban Institute’s December 2021 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey found that 45 percent of nonelderly adults living with children preferred the advance CTC payments, whereas 27 percent preferred a single payment as part of a tax refund and 28 percent had no preference.