[skr]

Don’t households with dependents already have an appropriate deduction for said dependents?

[Svartalfiar]

Don’t households with dependents already have an appropriate deduction for said dependents?

This is it. It's a refundable tax credit, and it's been around a while, they just keep making it bigger (last year was $2M per kid, this year's is $3M, or up to $3600 if the kid is under six). Also, the monthly payment thing is new, and all it is is advance payments on the tax credit. So instead of getting $3600 off at tax time for your two-year-old, you now get $300/mo for six months, and only $1800 at tax time. So the total credit is still the same amount on the year.