Millions of Americans may have been unpleasantly surprised to find smaller tax refunds, or even learn they owe Uncle Sam this year, and one taxpayer advocate group says President Joe Biden’s child tax credit program is to blame.
On Tuesday, Just the News reported that the National Taxpayer Advocate released its annual Congressional report, noting that the federal program has helped create millions of backlogged tax returns at the IRS.
“To add complexity, when taxpayers file their 2021 tax returns, millions who received Advance Child Tax Credit (AdvCTC) payments will have to reconcile the monthly advanced payments they received with the amounts for which they are eligible,” the report said.
Making matters worse, Americans who did not receive their third round of stimulus payments also had to claim those missing payments on their returns.
“Similarly, eligible taxpayers who did not receive some or all of the third round of stimulus payments, as authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act, will have to claim them as credits on their returns,” the report continued.
All of this confusion has caused various headaches for taxpayers across America.
“Thus, the unprecedented processing and refund delays taxpayers experienced in 2021 could be as bad, and potentially worse, in 2022 if taxpayers do not file electronically or do not properly reconcile their monthly AdvCTC payments or the third stimulus payment with their 2021 return,” the National Taxpayer Advocate claimed.
Some Americans could even find that they owe money, according to the IRS website’s frequently asked question’s page.
“Will I need to pay my advance Child Tax Credit payments back to the IRS if the total amount of those payments is greater than the Child Tax Credit amount that I can properly claim on my 2021 tax return?” the site flagged as a likely question.
“Maybe,” the IRS advised. “If the total amount of your advance Child Tax Credit payments is greater than the Child Tax Credit amount that you can properly claim on your 2021 tax return, you may need to report the entire excess amount on your 2021 tax return as additional income tax.”
“However, if you are eligible for repayment protection, you will not be required to repay some or all of your excess advance Child Tax Credit payments,” the federal agency clarified.
As of now, Biden’s child tax credit, passed under the American Rescue Plan, no longer exists as the payments were only authorized in 2021. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and others on Capitol Hill are reportedly working on a new child tax credit program that would potentially include work requirements for the program.
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Source: Dailywire
