Why You Didn’t Get Your August Child Tax Credit Payment

Like millions of other American families, back on July 15th, I saw the first Child Tax Credit payment direct deposit into my bank account. It was the first installment of the expanded Child Tax Credit, and one was scheduled to deposit into the bank every month through December. Payment number two was set for August 13th, last Friday. Perhaps you got your payment on time. But other families, like mine, are still waiting. Here is why.

The U.S. Department of Treasury says that some payments, around 15% of the total that went out in August, experienced a glitch. That glitch was somewhere in the direct deposit function because now those 15% of people who didn't see the money pop right in, have to wait for the dreaded paper check in the mail. WAVY.com reports that the government believes that they have the glitch fixed, and September direct deposit payments should go out without any issues.

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I called my bank on Friday to see if any other customers had reported their payments being delayed. At that point, I was the only one. I'm just lucky, I guess. They did suggest I wait a few more business days to see if the amount posted before I called the IRS to inquire about my payment. You can also check the IRS website to check on the status of your payment too.

If you're like me, and are apparently waiting for a paper check, the government says that you need to allow extra time for delivery, and it could take until the end of August for all the paper checks to go out. September payments are scheduled to be paid on the 15th.