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- The Biden administration and Code for America launched a new child tax credit sign-up portal.
- It comes two months after an earlier version of the site faced heavy criticism from advocates.
- The website includes a simplified tax form to make it easier for families to file.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The Biden administration on Wednesday launched a new mobile-friendly online portal so the lowest-income Americans who don't usually pay taxes can claim the child tax credit or missing direct payments.
The new sign-up tool, GetCTC.org, was rolled out by the Treasury Department, the White House, and Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization. It's designed to ensure families can tap into monthly federal payments, along with any of the three pandemic relief stimulus checks they're eligible for.
The portal is available in English and Spanish, and can be used on smartphones. Families are required to file a simplified tax return to get the money.
For six months, families can get a $300 monthly benefit per child age 5 and under, amounting to $3,600 this year. The measure from President Joe Biden's stimulus law provides $250 each month per kid age 6 and 17, totaling $3,000. Half of the cash benefit will come as a tax refund next year.
It comes two months after the Biden administration rolled out an earlier version of the website critics assailed as unusable because it was only available in English and accessible on desktop computers. Advocates and Democrats pressed the White House to revamp the site ahead of the first round of child tax credit payments on July 15 so it would achieve its goal to cut child poverty by up to half.
"No question, you're doing something this major, this quickly, there's gonna be wrinkles and bumps in the road," Gene Sperling, a senior White House official, said at a press conference. "We're as committed as we can be to smoothing them out as quickly as we can this year and certainly as we extend it for years and years to come."
Sperling said the administration would attempt to make it available in more languages down the road.
The measure has seen some early signs of success: The first month of payments kept three million children out of poverty and helped feed two million kids in July, per emerging research. Almost 70% of families either spent the money or used it to pay down debt.
A majority of Congressional Democrats back making the bulked-up child tax credit permanent, though they may face concerns from moderates in their ranks about its price tag. The White House is calling for keeping it until 2025.
The next child tax credit is scheduled to be issued on Sept. 15.