ADVChildTaxCredit mistake

[Chase-P]

I realized after filing that I actually received 3,600$ in advanced child tax credit payments, but when I filed I only put down a total of 1,800$ for me and my spouse. We are filing jointly as we always do, should I amend my federal tax return or will they catch this? 

[VolvoGirl]

The IRS should catch that and adjust your refund or send you a bill.   It will probably delay your return.  They know how much they sent you.

[Chase-P]

How long do you think it will be delayed?

[JamesG1]

At this point, we do not know how long a 2021 Federal tax return will be delayed if the IRS must adjust your refund or send you a bill.  In 2021, this was a manual process which took several weeks to resolve.

This IRS FAQ question C6 states:

Yes. If you make a mistake in determining the amount of the Child Tax Credit for which you are eligible, the IRS will automatically fix your amount. However, this correction will increase the time it takes to process your return and may delay the completion of that processing.

Here's a summary of how this will work, and the steps that you will need to take:

• If there's a mistake with the Child Tax Credit amount on Line 28 of the Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR, the IRS will calculate the correct amount, make the correction, and continue processing the return.
• The IRS will send you a notice explaining any change to the amount of Child Tax Credit that you claimed.
• If you receive a notice stating that the IRS changed the amount of your 2021 Child Tax Credit, you should follow the instructions in the notice and direct any questions to the phone number on the upper right side of the letter.

Here are some common reasons why the IRS would correct the amount of the Child Tax Credit that you claimed:

• You were claimed as a dependent on another person's 2021 tax return.
• You did not provide a Social Security number valid for employment for any qualifying child whom you claimed.
• Any child whom you claimed for the Child Tax Credit does not meet all of the requirements to be a qualifying child. For information about the requirements for a qualifying child, see Q B2 of Topic B: Eligibility Rules for Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on a 2021 Tax Return.
• You made an addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division error on your return.
• You forgot to attach Schedule 8812 (Form 1040), Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents, to your tax return.