The IRS has repeatedly urged Americans to file their taxes on time, by May 17. There’s a good reason for that, and it’s not the most obvious one.

The answer – aside from the IRS wanting you to pay your taxes, naturally – is that the agency is seeking to update its information on who qualifies for certain tax credits and benefits. The latest legislation expanding such benefits, the March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, tasked the IRS with distributing additional aid to Americans. Although this expansion is currently slated to end after 2021, the Biden administration has proposed legislation to extend it through 2025, among other stimulus measures.

One of the more consequential measures in the American Rescue Plan has been the expansion of the Child Income Tax Credit, previously set at $2000 per year, to $3000 per year for children older than six and $3600 per year for children younger than six. Single parents making $75,000 per year or less, or couples making $150,000 or less, are entitled to the full payment; as incomes rise above this level, the payout decreases by $50 for each $1000 above. For instance, if you are a single parent of a five-year-old making $85,000 per year, your annual payout would be reduced by $500, so you would only receive $3100 in tax credits for your child.

However, receiving this payout is conditional on the IRS knowing that you are entitled to it. At the present, their information on who qualifies – in other words, their knowledge of which taxpayers have children and which do not – is dependent on America’s 2019 tax returns, filed in April 2020.

In other words, if you had a child after you filed your 2019 taxes, and you have not filed your taxes since, the IRS will not pay you the benefits that you are entitled to – because it will not know about your new status until after you file your 2020 taxes. This means that filing your taxes, besides being a legal obligation, can potentially be very rewarding.

The money gained from extra benefits is especially important considering that a fourth stimulus – despite the fierce advocacy of some Democratic lawmakers – seems unlikely to happen.

With all that said, it is now past May 17. If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, what can you do? The answer is that late taxes are accepted, but there are usually penalty fees. The standard fee is an increase of 5% of your total owed tax for each month your taxes are late, up to 25%.

This means that, if you have not already filed, you will now need to pay a 5% penalty fee. As unfortunate as this is, if you wait another month, your fee will increase to 10%, so it is best to get it over with. In any case, depending on your income and status, the benefits you could earn from the American Rescue Plan might outweigh the increased cost.

Trevor Filseth is a news reporter and writer for the National Interest.