Here's What You Need to Know: Eligible parents should be on the lookout for new payments.

For months, many cash-strapped Americans have been calling for recurring monthly coronavirus stimulus checks to further assist those who are still struggling to meet their basic everyday needs.

In less than a month, however, it appears that these people will finally get their wish. No, they are not the traditional $1,400 stimulus checks—but monthly payments starting on July 15 from the expanded child tax credits that were approved under President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.  

In an effort to raise awareness of the federal government’s new program, the White House has launched the website www.childtaxcredit.gov to give eligible parents more details regarding the credits.  

“I have repeatedly said that America’s middle class deserves a tax cut, and we’re providing a significant tax cut to America’s working families with children through the largest-ever child tax credit,” Biden said in a statement.  

“This tax cut will give our nation’s hardworking families with children a little more breathing room when it comes to putting food on the table, paying the bills, and making ends meet. Nearly every working family with children is going to feel this tax cut make a difference in their lives, and we need to spread the word so that all eligible families get the full credit. . . . For parents working to make ends meet and raise their children with greater security, dignity, and opportunity, help is here,” he added.  

At a recreation center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke highly of the program, which White House officials have claimed will benefit nearly 90 percent of all children in the United States—eventually reducing child poverty and increasing future earning potential.  

“When more families know about how they can get the relief, that is how we will be able to lift our children out of poverty,” she said. 

Thanks to Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, the expanded credits will allow eligible parents to collect as much as $3,600 per year for a child under the age of six and up to $3,000 for children between ages six and seventeen—meaning that a $250 or a $300 cash payment for each child will head into the bank accounts or mailboxes of parents every month till the end of the year.  

Eligible parents should also be on the lookout for two letters that have been mailed out by the Internal Revenue Service. The first letter will target those who may be eligible to receive the monthly credit payments, and the second, more personalized letter will state the estimated amount of their monthly checks.  

The IRS also recently launched a special tool that will help parents who generally don’t file tax returns because they don’t meet income thresholds to receive the credits.  

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

This article first appeared earlier this month.

Image: Reuters