TIGTA Releases Report Assessing Child Tax Credit Online Portal
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a new report assessing the capabilities of the IRS Child Tax Credit (CTC) online portal that was launched for the expanded CTC implemented by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The report noted that the IRS had to work quickly to create and launch the online portal and begin sending out the monthly advance payments. The portal also needed to allow taxpayers to unenroll from receiving advance payments and update their mailing address, bank account information, number of qualifying children, filing status and annual income.
According to the report, there were several issues with the rollout of the portal. One issue was that over 1,300 taxpayers experienced identity theft due to fraudulent tax returns filed through the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool. Another issue was that the IRS did not provide the capabilities for taxpayers to update their number of qualifying children and their filing status in 2021.
Despite these issues, on July 15, 2021, the IRS distributed the first of six advance CTC payments, and as of December 2021, approximately 216.9 million advance CTC payments totaling $93.5 billion had been distributed.
The report also reviewed the steps the IRS took to educate taxpayers and tax preparers about the expanded CTC ahead of time. Outreach efforts included providing information on www.IRS.gov, updating tax publications, developing and distributing marketing materials via traditional and social media, and holding in-person events.
Additionally, the TIGTA reviewed the revamped CTC website www.ChildTaxCredit.gov that was launched by the Treasury Department and the White House in January of this year. In its report, the TIGTA said it found potential inaccuracies on the website, such as non-working links and incorrect references to filing status thresholds. The report also said that the TIGTA informed the IRS of these inaccuracies.
When it came time for taxpayers to file their tax year 2021 returns, where they were required to reduce their CTC by the amount of advance payments received, the report noted that the IRS’ process to identify discrepancies between the advance payments reported on the tax return and advance payments recorded on the taxpayer’s account did not account for any undelivered checks.
The TIGTA made two recommendations in the report, that the IRS notify the Treasury Department about concerns with the accuracy of the information posted on www.ChildTaxCredit.gov and that the IRS develop programming to account for undelivered checks. Agreeing with the recommendations, the IRS has put them both into effect.