new baby born in 2021

[Kderop]

How do I file with a new baby born in 2021? And how will I receive the stimulus for this year?

[Scarlett2203]

I'm in the same boat-I had twins in January. We could really use the stimulus because of so many expenses, but everywhere I turn it appears we cannot apply nor do we qualify. How can we get the stimulus? 

[AmiNayak]

We had a new baby as well in 2021.  I'm seeing a lot of questions, but not a whole lot of answers.  Will the experts be chiming in later?

[lcasteel1]

Hey Kderop,

How are you today? Congratulations on the new baby!  First, to claim the baby on your 2021 tax return, just put them in as a dependent with their name and Social Security number and date of birth.  You put that they lived with you 7 or more months, otherwise you won't get them for the whole year. 

To get the credit this year, you can go to www.irs.gov and go to the Child tax payment update tool and add the child and start the payments coming up soon.  If you don't get them started you will receive the entire credit on your 2021 tax return.

[lcasteel1]

For Twins, you can get twice the payment.  If your income is below 150,000 for married filing joint, you can qualify for $7,200 for children under age 6.

[lcasteel1]

You will click on "Get information about child tax payments" then go to "check eligibility", answer the questions there and it will guide you from there.

[DaniBomb]

I logged into this tool and there is no where for me to add my child that was born in February 2021. 

[lcasteel1 · Accepted solution]

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/child-tax-credit-update-portal

[CarmenPineda11]

I did this and you can’t add your child and get payments. You have to wait for a date they will have set for people to update their dependents.

[lcasteel1]

Go to the link below.  IRS is supposed to have it updated soon.

[DaniBomb]

Went to the link. It brought me to the same place I already checked. Looks like the answer is that babies born in 2021 cannot be added yet because the IRS has not updated the portal.

[amg3425]

You seem to be repeating what I already know.  Is this a real person or a robot?  I would like a personalized answer on what to do about having a new baby born in 2021 including what exactly to do and when to do it.  Also, would we start receiving payments after we updated the portal? Would we get back-pay?  Please be more elaborate with your answer. 

[lcasteel1]

Unfortunately, amg3425, we only know what the guidance is to this point.  I have been in tax practice for 28 years.  To answer the questions that you asked that were not asked previously, If you don't get the payments during the summer, you get the entire credit on your 2021 tax return.   A little caution, this is a tax credit so if you owe money and you take the credit early, you won't have it to use against what you may owe meaning  you MAY have to pay it back unless you make under $40,000.00 a year.  Her is the schedule to activate the portals from the IRS.  The IRS does not guarantee these dates as they are estimates.

*Date You Can Make Changes	What You Can Do
June 21	Find out if you're eligible Unenroll from payments See a list of your payments
June 30	Make changes to your bank information for your payments beginning in August
Early August	Make changes to your address
Late summer	Make changes to your dependents, marital status and income Re-enroll if you previously unenrolled

[Karisia]

I'm in the middle of doing my 2021 taxes right now. I added my new baby, born in April 2021, to my dependents in TurboTax Home & Business 2021, but it is not adding the $3,600 Child Tax Credit to the money I'm getting back on my federal tax return. Why?

[VolvoGirl]

@Karisia   Go back and check your answers under My Info.   If you had a child born in 2021- Add them under My Info. You need to answer 2 questions…..

Did your child live with you for the whole year? Answer YES even if they were born late in the year even on Dec 31.

Then was at least half of child's expenses paid by CHILD? Usually is NO.