Fully delivering periodic child credit payments will be a difficult task for IRS, not in the least part because of its out-of-date computer systems, shrunken workforce, tax changes, and its many other duties. The law requires IRS to develop an online tool for families to update changes to their family circumstances or adjusted gross income. IRS says it will have to build a system to compute and recompute payments as people provide new information. The system must also be able to issue and track payments, as well as reconcile the payments with the taxpayer’s credit taken on the tax return. IRS might not have its online tool set up in time, the agency head warns. And sending out monthly payments will be a challenge, at least in the beginning. Another issue is the potential for fraud with a fully refundable credit. IRS estimates that in 2019 it improperly paid $7.2 billion in refundable child credits.