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Non-tax filers eligible for advanced child tax credit payments

Non-filers with children need to sign up through the IRS online portal.

TOLEDO, Ohio — If you're a parent you probably noticed some extra cash in your bank account from the IRS last week. 

It's the first in a series of advanced payments of the child tax credit. 

RELATED: Child tax credit fast facts: Everything parents and guardians need to know

However more than 100,000 families in Ohio aren't receiving those payments owed to them. 

"If you haven't filed a tax return because you're not required, you're still eligible for these," said CPA Charlie Heid of Gilmore Jasion Mahler.

Previously, this credit was paid out to parents at tax time. This year, parents will get half of the credit in monthly installments through December. 

Typically the credit wasn't refundable, so Heid says families who don't file a tax return because their income isn't high enough weren't eligible. 

RELATED: No, parents can’t claim the child tax credit for children who turn 18 in 2021

That changed this year, and now these families need to go to the IRS's online portal to sign up.

"You fill out the information and that is providing the IRS with the information they need to get these payments out to you," Heid said.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), says about 100,000 Ohio families who are eligible haven't signed up.

He says it's because the IRS portal is only in English and it's not mobile-friendly. 

"I've asked the IRS and the secretary of treasury to get moving on that and open that up so these Ohio children and 100,000 Ohio families who have not been able to sign up yet [can do so]," Brown said.

Families who aren't required to file taxes won't owe anything to the government at tax time. They'll receive the other half of the credit with everyone else in the spring. 

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