If you use SSI, can you get a $250/month child credit?

Dear J.,

Yes, it sounds like your daughter will be eligible for the expanded child tax credit. Generally, to qualify for the child tax credit, you need at least $2,500 in income, which is basically the income you earn through work.

But in 2021, the rules are different. The income you don’t need to earn is eligible for the credit. Therefore, as long as your daughter can tax your 6-year-old grandson as a dependent-which means that she provides more than half of his support-she should be eligible for the money, even if the Supplementary Security Income (SSI) ) Is her only source of income.

As the parent of a child aged 6 to 17, she should be eligible for USD 250 from July 15 And lasted until December. Then, she will receive another $1,500 of the $3,000 credit when she pays taxes next year.

To be safe, your daughter should Tax return Even if she was not asked. You can submit a copy even if you have no taxable income.The easiest way is to use Free tax filing software. Your daughter needs to enter her own and her son’s social security numbers. For income, she only needs to enter $1. If she enters $0, the IRS may reject it as a blank return. Providing a bank account and routing number for direct deposit will help her receive payment as quickly as possible.

If your daughter has received three stimulus checks that have been issued since April 2020 and received payments on behalf of her son, the IRS may have the information needed to get the money for your daughter.

But as of June 1, the IRS urged people to submit their 2020 tax returns as soon as possible to ensure that they receive tax credits as soon as possible. So before we get further instructions, I will continue to submit, because it is free and only takes a few minutes.

Robin Hartill is Penny Hoarder’s certified financial planner and senior author.Send your tough money questions to [email protected].