Child tax credit

The child tax credit started in 1997 at $400 per year for each child under the age of 17. This was nonrefundable meaning you received the credit even if you didn't owe any tax. It was increased to $1,000 in 2012 and then $2,000 in 2017 where it remained until the pandemic hit. It was then increased to $3,000 for each child under 17 including $3,600 for children under age 6. Besides increasing the amount the payments were sent out monthly instead once per year at tax filing time. These extra monthly payments stopped last month and a poll taken by NBC indicated that the majority of the 36 million parents receiving these checks were disappointed. These payments will now return to the pre- pandemic $2,000. This is an example of what happens when you give out a benefit, even for a short time, how difficult it is to stop.