News

One-Time $500 Tax Credit Only Going to Very Specific Families

Certain parents are eligible to receive some much-needed financial relief. Here's how to know if you qualify.

Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Getty

The Federal Child Tax Credit has provided parents with some much-needed financial support during the ongoing pandemic but you may not have realized this monetary relief is not only for moms and dads raising young children. In fact, moms and dads of college kids can qualify for a one-time stimulus payment if they meet certain requirements. Here is everything you need to know.

If you are the parent of someone between the ages of 18 to 24 who attends college full-time, you may qualify to receive a $500 stimulus payment as part of the latest round of the Federal Child Tax Credit.

While parents of kids six and younger are set to receive $300 a month, and those with kids between the ages of 7 and 17 will receive $250 per month until tax filing time when they’ll get the second half of their cash in one lump-sum payment, this $500 is an annual stimulus payment (and for now, one-time, as the CTC hasn’t been made permanent or even semi-permanent.) That means that it’s all you’re going to get if you hav ea kid who is over 18, although if you have more than one child in college full-time, you can receive $500 payments for each of them.

So how do you qualify? Well, beyond the age and college requirements, there are a few other things you will need in order to be eligible for the $500. You need to be paying for at least half of their expenses, as well as being able to claim them as a dependent.

There are also income limitations. Single filers making more than $75,000, head of households earning over $112,500, and joint filers earning a combined total of $150,000 will not receive the full $500, but some lesser amount, just like the other child tax credit payments.

However, you can earn some stimulus if you are above that threshold. For every $1,000 of adjusted gross income you are above your respective income limit, the amount of the tax credit is reduced by $50, same as the stimulus limitations for the rest of the Child Tax Credit.

Not entirely sure if you qualify? You can check out the IRS’s handy dandy Advance Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant to help you figure it out. Families who do qualify will get the cash at tax-filing time in 2022, per iHeart.

This article was originally published on