Parents could get a $300 check this week from the government thanks to the revamped child tax credit

• The IRS will start sending advance child tax credit payments on July 15.
• Monthly payments for families will be issued until December, with the remainder sent at tax time.
• It amounts up to $300 per child, depending on the age.

The federal government is only three days away from kicking off what's essentially a new child allowance program in the America.

It stems from a revamped child tax credit in President Joe Biden's March stimulus law that widened the credit's reach to families with no tax obligations, and bulked up the amount. Families can get a monthly $300 check for children ages 5 and under, and $250 for each child between 6 and 17.

The IRS noted that most families will receive the payments without having to do anything, and they should receive them through direct deposit, a paper check, or a debit card - similar to the three stimulus payments that the federal government sent over the past year.

Half of the amount will be divided into monthly payments issued from July until December. The remaining half will be provided at tax time next year. It will total $3,000 for kids between 6 and 17, and $3,600 for children under age 6.

Last month, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) began notifying 36 million American families that they could be eligible to receive the monthly child tax credit.

Here's when the IRS will distribute payments:

• July 15
• August 13
• September 15
• October 15
• November 15
• December 15

The White House estimates that 90% of families are eligible to get the credit. Researchers say it has the potential to put a major dent in child poverty as well.

Still, the IRS is scrambling to reach the lowest-income families who didn't previously qualify for the child tax credit. At least 2.3 million children could be excluded from the child allowance, per a Treasury Department estimate.

A strong majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate are pushing to make the child tax credit changes permanent. Biden's sprawling infrastructure package would extend it until 2025. After that, Congress would need to renew it.

"We must use this moment to pass the American Family Act and permanently expand and improve the child tax credit by increasing the benefit to families and providing payments monthly," Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro said in a February statement. "Children and families must be able to count on this benefit long after the end of this pandemic."

Still, some moderate Senate Democrats may push for cuts to the measure. At least one Democratic senator has expressed unease with checks going to households earning six figures.