The new enhanced child tax credit begins July 1, and will be paid directly to taxpayers during the year rather than being applied as a credit at the end of the year on your tax return. Congress directed the IRS to make the payments monthly or as often as practical. We will all have to wait for guidance from the IRS to see how they will implement this new payment.
For the $1400 credit, the IRS will base the credit on your 2020 tax return if you have filed it and they have processed it. If not, they will base the credit payment on your 2019 tax return. The IRS website has not yet been updated to indicate what their exact procedures or timetable will be.
