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We're in the Money!
Spending Your Advance Child Tax Credit Check
By Cara J. Stevens
The IRS also issued a strong warning about scam artists who offered to speed up the process and issue checks in advance. Many potential recipients of the refund received phone calls earlier this year, charging a fee to expedite the advance process. If you have received such an offer, the IRS urges you to call the IRS tax fraud hotline at 1-800-829-0433.
No one knows what's best for your family but you. Many families will opt to carry out the government's plan, spending their credit on big-ticket items the whole family can enjoy together such as a vacation, a computer or a home entertainment center.
Brenna and Mike Hajek of Redondo Beach, Calif., had forgotten about the advance and were surprised when they received their check in the mail. "I have no idea what we'll do," Brenna Hajek says. "We haven't gone out in so long; we might use some of it to pay for a night out in L.A. with a babysitter! Maybe we'll go see The Producers."
For other families, home improvement is high on their list. "We haven't gotten the check yet, but we have so many repairs to do on our house that it will probably go into the 'fix the front steps and rebuild the garage fund,'" says Kristin Winkel-Rosoff, of Milton, Mass. Lowe's, the home improvement chain, is banking on the fact that many families will go the same route. They even have a separate section of their Web site titled "Put Your Refund to Work" where they outline instructions and materials lists for projects you can complete for under $400 and under $800, the amounts a one-child and two-child family would receive (see sidebar for more information).