The Internal Revenue Service is urging taxpayers to take special care with their tax returns due to the enhanced child tax credit and the third stimulus check in 2021.

“Incorrect entries when reporting these payments mean the IRS will need to further review the tax return, creating an extensive delay,” the agency wrote on its website.

The IRS already has announced that it will issue Letter 6419 for the enhanced child tax credit payments.

It will have the “total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments taxpayers received in 2021,” the agency said. “People should keep this and any other IRS letters about advance Child Tax Credit payments with their tax records.”

Still Waiting for Letter

It may sound simple enough, but according to Georgina Tzanetos at personal finance resource site GOBankingRates.com, some recipients of the enhanced credits are still waiting for their letter to arrive.

“The IRS has stated that these letters went out in January, so if you still have not received one it’s best to wait a few days to see if it arrives shortly,” she wrote. “If not, you can use the online CTC portal to check if your information, such as your current mailing address, is correct. You can also contact the IRS via phone at 1-800-829-1040.”

Tzanetos also wrote that if that letter is now lost or destroyed, “the process will be the same.”

“Contact the IRS or access the CTC portal as soon as possible to make sure you can file accurate taxes,” she added. “This letter is particularly important for reconciling the correct amount of the enhanced credit you are to receive, as to avoid owing the IRS any money.”

Incorrect Information

The IRS also cautioned that some of those letters may include incorrect information.

Ken Corbin, the IRS chief taxpayer experience officer, said that concerned taxpayers can go to IRS.gov and log into their account through the site, which should have the correct information that a taxpayer can use on their return.

“We want taxpayers to have the info they need to file an accurate return,” he stated.

Between July and December, the American Rescue Plan-approved enhanced credits provided eligible parents as much as $3,600 for a child under the age of six and up to $3,000 for children between ages six and seventeen. This meant that a $250 or a $300 payment for each child was issued to parents each month.

Now, by filing their tax returns, these CTC-eligible households are entitled to the second half of the tax credit money. In addition, those parents who didn’t get those payments last year can finally receive those credits as well.

The federal government also has launched a revamped website to help individuals who were eligible for the expanded credit claim the second half of the payments.

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Washington state-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.

Image: Reuters.