Here’s why your child tax credit payment might be late

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Another round of child tax credit payments was sent to many American families this week, but some might have been delayed by what the IRS calls a “technical issue.”

Here’s how to know if you’re among those affected: if you received your child tax credit payment as a direct deposit in July but your August payment hasn’t shown up yet, chances are yours was delayed.

According to the IRS, the vast majority of families got their payments as scheduled. But a fraction of the intended recipients who did not receive their direct deposits will get payments in the mail instead.

The IRS attributed the delay to a “technical issue” it expects to have sorted out by the time September payments are due:

“Due to a technical issue expected to be resolved by the September payments, a small percentage of recipients — less than 15 percent — who received payments by direct deposit in July will be mailed paper checks for the August payment.”

You can check the IRS’ website to find out whether you should be expecting a direct deposit or mailed check this month.