Letters 6416 and 6416-A are both called the Advance Child Tax Credit Outreach letter. The IRS mailed them in June 2021.
These letters estimated Child Tax Credit (CTC) amounts for tax year 2021 and told taxpayers they might be eligible to receive advance Child Tax Credit payments. The estimate was based on the information in your 2020 tax return. If your 2020 return wasn't filed and processed yet, the IRS used your 2019 return.
What This Letter Means
It was an outreach letter. It wasn't a bill, and it didn't ask you to do anything. It let you know advance payments might be coming based on what the IRS had on file.
What to Do
No response is needed. Keep the letter with your 2021 tax records.
The amounts in these letters were estimates. What mattered for your 2021 return was the advance payments you actually received. That total was reported later, on Letter 6419, and families who received advance payments had to file a 2021 return and compare those payments with the credit they could claim.
If You Still Have a 2021 Issue
If you received advance payments but never filed a 2021 return, or the IRS questioned the Child Tax Credit on your 2021 return, the 6416 letters won't settle it. Look at Letter 6419 and your IRS online account, which shows your advance payment totals. Compare those figures with what was claimed on the return.
Keep copies of all IRS letters about advance Child Tax Credit payments with your tax records.
If you have a 2021 Child Tax Credit problem with the IRS, call us at (813) 229-7100.