Skip to main content

Advance Payments of the Expanded Child Tax Credit

MinistryCPA has received many inquiries regarding the advance payments of the expanded child tax credit.

For 2021, the child tax credit has been increased and made fully refundable. Most individuals with children have likely received correspondence from the IRS indicating their eligibility for the advance payment of these credits which will be sent out each month beginning on July 15. Those who receive the advance payments will claim the second half of the expanded child tax credit on their return.

For some families, it may be advantageous to unenroll from receiving the advance payments. Each situation is different, so it may be wise to do some basic tax planning to determine the best course of action. If you are unsure whether to receive these advance payments of the credit now or wait to claim the credit on your 2021 return we recommend unenrolling now. The full credit will be available to you on your 2021 return if you unenroll from these payments. To stop advance payments both you and your spouse must unenroll three days before the first Thursday of the the month. 

Please contact us if you are interested in tax planning or have questions regarding the updated child tax credit.

For more information on the expanded child tax credits visit the IRS Child Tax Credit Update Portal: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

Question: A church owns a parsonage, but the pastor does not use it as he owns his own home. The church rents the parsonage to a tenant other than a minister or employee of the church. Will the church be responsible for paying income tax on these monies as Unrelated Business Income (filing a Form 990-T) even if the money is used to carry on the business of the church? Answer: Whether the money is used for church purposes is irrelevant.  IRS Publication 598  states: "If an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business." Fortunately, in the case of rental income from real property, such income is "excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income" (Publication 598). Caution: see content below regarding debt-financed property.  However, a second concern not a

Review: Form 1099 Payments to 501(c)(3) Organizations

Question: A church rented space from another church last year. Should it request a completed Form W-9 and issue Form 1099-MISC? Answer: Payments from one 501(c)(3) organization to another 501(c)(3) organization are not subject to Form 1099-MISC reporting. The IRS Instructions for Form 1099-MISC state that "payments to a tax-exempt organization" are exempt from reporting a Form 1099-MISC.  The following are typical examples of payments of $600 or more by a church which are subject to reporting a Form 1099-MISC: Rent paid to an individual (non-corporation) Payments for services rendered by individuals who are not employees (e.g. janitorial service, facilities, snow removal, guest speakers) Support sent directly to missionaries

Form 944 or 941 Filing for Churches

Question:   A new church filed for an employer identification number (EIN) recently. It received notification from the IRS about the EIN, stating that the church must file Form 944 by the following January deadline. The church has no non-ministerial staff members. Since income tax withholding is elective by ministers and none of the pastors has elected to request non-mandatory withholding is the church required to file Form 944 annually? Also, a quarterly Form 941 (rather than an annual Form 944) is required of some employers. Which IRS form, if any, should be filed? Answer: According to IRS Section 1402(c) and 3121(c), ministers are not subject to mandatory income tax withholding. Unless one or more ministerial employees request non-mandatory withholding, church employers with only ministerial employees do not need to file Form 941 or Form 944.  The IRS  Ministers Audit Technique Guide  explains in further detail a minister's treatments for social security, Medicare tax, Fed