These updated FAQs were released to the public in Fact Sheet 2022-17PDF, March 8, 2022. Q J1. What are the reasons why an individual would have chosen to unenroll from advance Child Tax Credit payments? (updated January 11, 2022) A1. Individuals have chosen to unenroll from receiving advance Child Tax Credit payments for several reasons. For example, individuals chose to unenroll because they expected the amount of tax that they would owe to be greater than their expected refund when they file their 2021 tax return. The payments that individuals received were an advance of the Child Tax Credit that they would normally get when they file their 2021 tax return. Because these credits were paid in advance, every dollar received by an individual in 2021 will reduce the amount of Child Tax Credit that the individual can claim on their 2021 tax return. This means that by accepting advance Child Tax Credit payments, the amount of an individual’s refund may be reduced or the amount of tax that they owe may increase. Individuals could avoid owing tax to the IRS by unenrolling from advance Child Tax Credit payments and claiming the credit when they file their 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. Q J2. What were the deadlines to unenroll or make changes to my bank information? (updated January 11, 2022) A2. To stop advance payments or to make changes to your bank information through the Child Tax Credit Update Portal (CTC UP), you needed to unenroll or make changes 3 days before the first Thursday of the next month by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Note: Once you unenrolled for one month, you did not need to unenroll for subsequent months. Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 29 were reflected in the monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments disbursed in December. Payment Month Deadline to Update Information Payment Date July 6/28/2021 7/15/2021 August 8/2/2021 8/13/2021 September 8/30/2021 9/15/2021 October 10/4/2021 10/15/2021 November 11/1/2021 11/15/2021 December 11/29/2021 12/15/2021 Q J3. What happened if I missed an unenroll deadline? (updated January 11, 2022) A3. You received the next scheduled advance Child Tax Credit payment until we processed your request to unenroll. Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 29 were reflected in the monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments disbursed in December. Q J4. How long did it generally take for the IRS to complete the unenrollment process? (updated January 11, 2022) A4. It could have taken up to seven calendar days. Updates made by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on November 29 were reflected in the monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments disbursed in December. Q J5. Could I have re-enrolled? (updated January 11, 2022) A5. No. Unenrollment was a one-time action that could not be reversed. Q J6. If I’m married filing jointly, did my spouse also need to unenroll? (updated January 11, 2022) A6. Yes. Unenrolling applied solely to the individual who unenrolled with the IRS. Q J7. If my spouse unenrolled and I didn’t unenroll, what would have happened? (updated January 11, 2022) A7. If you didn’t unenroll, you would have continued to receive half of the joint payment you were supposed to receive with your spouse. 2021 Child Tax Credit and Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Topics Topic A: General Information Topic B: Eligibility for Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and the 2021 Child Tax Credit Topic C: Calculation of the 2021 Child Tax Credit Topic D: Calculation of Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Topic E: Advance Payment Process of the Child Tax Credit Topic F: Updating Your Child Tax Credit Information During 2021 Topic G: Receiving Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Topic H: Reconciling Your Advance Child Tax Credit Payments on Your 2021 Tax Return Topic I: U.S. Territory Residents and Advance Child Tax Credit Payments Topic J: Unenrolling from Advance Payments Topic K: Verifying Your Identity to View your Payments Topic L: Commonly Asked Shared-Custody Questions Topic M: Commonly Asked Immigration-Related Questions Topic N: Returning a Payment Previous Updates to FAQs FS-2022-07, February 2022PDF FS-2022-03, January 2022PDF FS-2021-13, November 2021PDF