More child tax checks released

Finance Secretary Larrisa Larson said yesterday that close to half a million dollars of child tax credit checks for some 350 taxpayers were released on Friday—welcome news for parents who have yet to receive their children’s share of the federal program funding.

There are also parents who just learned from Finance’s Revenue and Taxation Division that their applications have deficiencies so they may have to wait a little longer for their checks to be released.

Julius Pagaduan, a father of four, said Rev&Tax told him Tuesday that they needed validation of his Social Security number which he immediately provided, hoping that it was the only thing that’s keeping the division from releasing his child tax credit check.

He said he expects some $3,000 in child tax credit check, which he relies on for his four children’s additional school needs.

“Good thing I checked on Tuesday, and that’s when they told me there’s a deficiency. I hope they will release our checks soon since I corrected the deficiency,” Pagaduan, a San Jose resident who works as a security guard, told Saipan Tribune yesterday.

Susan Sy, of Navy Hill, separately said yesterday that when she checked with Finance on Friday, she also found out that there was a deficiency in their application so she corrected the deficiency that same day.

“Early on, I was hoping that I’d get the checks, but because of the deficiency which I corrected on Friday, maybe I have to wait a little while longer,” said Sy, whose two children are enrolled in a private school.

The mother of two said she looks forward to the child tax credit checks to be able to pay for her children’s registration and book fees.

Another Navy Hill resident, a 39-year-old mother of two, said she hopes she’s one of the estimated 350 taxpayers whose checks were released on Friday.

“I haven’t paid my children’s book fees yet and I’m waiting for the child tax credit check to pay for that. The check will also go into defraying costs for the school uniform, school fees and other school expenses,” she said. Her two children are in private school.

Friday’s release of checks was the fourth batch of child tax credit checks, the Finance secretary said.

Larson said the Department of Finance submitted its fifth batch to the IRS about a week ago. Because IRS had to close fiscal year 2011, “there is going to be a slight delay in the release of the fifth batch.”

“We expect to receive that next batch when the IRS starts their new fiscal year in a week or so,” Larrisa told Saipan Tribune.

She also said that Finance has processed “almost all of the child tax payments that are pending to date.”

“So if taxpayers are expecting child tax credit payments and have not received them by October 15th, we would like to ask for taxpayers to call the Division of Revenue and Taxation and see if there is a correction and/or amendment that needs to be made to their return,” Larson added.

Since early September, Finance has already released some 5,000 child tax credit checks worth up to $6 million.

The first batch alone included some 3,500 checks—the biggest bulk of checks whose release coincided with the first week of opening of public schools in early September, providing relief to many parents who rely on the child tax credit check to buy school supplies and help pay for tuition.

The federal child tax credit is available to taxpayers who have a child under the age of 17. It is worth up to $1,000 per “qualifying” child.

In general, a “qualifying” child is any individual for whom the taxpayer can claim a dependency exemption and who is the taxpayer’s son or daughter, stepson or stepdaughter, brother or sister, or eligible foster child.

Lt. Gov. Eloy S. Inos earlier said after the child tax credit checks are released, the Fitial administration will start looking at tax rebate and refund checks, which he said will be released no later than December.