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Families jam pick up locations for Child Tax Credit payments

Crowds of people waiting for their Child Tax Credit payments in front of Lee Auditorium
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Just after 7a.m yesterday, Samoa News observed a very long line from in front of the Gov. H. Rex Lee Auditorium through the front of the Samoana High School gym yesterday with residents, waiting for the auditorium to open at 7:30a.m. for the distribution of Advance Child Tax Credit checks for tax payers, who do not have a mailing address on their tax returns.

A statement released by ASG Treasurer earlier this month announced that more than $13 million was to be disbursed yesterday for 6,700 taxpayers with qualifying children who filed their 2020 American Samoa tax return from January 1st to July 31st of this year.

This is the first payment under American Samoa’s share of the advance child tax credit funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

AST Treasury says eligible taxpayers will receive two quarterly payments — in September and December for:

•           qualified dependents age 5 and under, qualifying for a total of $1,800. Eligible taxpayers would received two payments of $900;

•           qualified dependents age 6 to 17 qualify for a total of 1,500. Eligible taxpayers will receive two payments of $750.

No date is confirmed yet for the December distribution.

Those who have a mail address were able to pick up their checks from the Post Office, which had slow traffic yesterday. The other option — which many taxpayers took advantage of — is direct deposit into their bank account.

The lines at the Territorial Bank of American Samoa branches in Tafuna and Utulei were long throughout the day. ASG’s checks are issued from their TBAS account.