U.S. Reps. Tom Suozzi and Kathleen Rice urged New York parents to file their income taxes on time to qualify for a newly expanded child tax credit under the American Rescue Plan.
Parents with eligible children who file their 2020 federal tax returns by May 17 can receive the credit that can help impoverished families across Long Island, officials said.
“This child tax credit is going to provide hundreds of thousands of families throughout Long Island with thousands of dollars and lift up people’s lives,” Suozzi, a Glen Cove Democrat, said during a Friday press conference. “The American Rescue Plan has been great in so many ways, we just have to keep telling people about all the things that are in there.”
Rice said more than 100,000 children in her 4th Congressional District — which includes Floral Park, Garden City, Hempstead, Mineola, Carle Place, New Hyde Park and Westbury — stand to benefit from the child tax credit.
That number — which accounts for more than 65 percent of the entire eligible child population throughout the district — includes 5,500 children who will be lifted out of poverty as a result of the credit.
In Suozzi’s 3rd Congressional District — which stretches from Whitestone, Queens, to Kings Park in Suffolk County and includes Manhasset, Roslyn, Port Washington, Great Neck and Floral Park, among other areas — more than 56 percent of the eligible children will benefit from the credit, with 3,700 being lifted out of poverty, he said.
“This is money directly in the pocket of families to put food on the table and pay the bills,” Rice, a Garden City Democrat, said during Friday’s press conference. “I encourage all families to file their taxes by Monday, May 17 to receive the full amount they qualify for.”
Officials said tax returns filed by the May 17 deadline will not include the specific child tax credits, but filing will make parents eligible to receive “advance payments” as soon as July. The payments will be continuously distributed throughout the rest of the calendar year.
“This is money directly in the pocket of families to put food on the table and pay the bills,” Rice, a Garden City Democrat, said during Friday’s press conference. “I encourage all families to file their taxes by Monday, May 17 to receive the full amount they qualify for.”
The tax credit offers parents $3,600 for every child 6 years old or younger, $3,000 for kids aged 6 to 17 years and up to $500 for children older than 18, including full-time college students aged 19 to 24. The benefit is available to parents of biological and adopted children, step-children and foster children.
Full payments for each individual child are available for an individual parent making up to $75,0000 a year, and joint filers making up to $150,000 a year. Single filers with incomes of $240,000 or more and joint filers with combined incomes of $440,000 or more will not receive the child tax credit.
