I am not getting the full child tax credit that I am supposed to...is anyone else experiencing issues with turbo tax?

[cicerakaga]

I have 3 qualifying children and my income is well below the limit, but turbo tax is calculating that I receive only $800 when I should be receiving the full $6,000

[KrisD15]

Did you check your tax liability first? 

The Child Tax Credit is technically non-refundable, meaning it can only lower your tax liability. 

Once your tax liability has zero'ed out, it becomes the "Additional Child tax Credit" and at that time increases your refund.

Check your 1040 and make sure the children are listed as your dependents and that the box saying they are eligible for the child tax credit is checked. 

Look at your 1040 line 28 to see if the credit became the Additional child tax credit. 

(the child tax credit is on line 19)

(look at line 22 to see if your tax was zero'ed out) 

To View Your 1040 in TurboTax Online

1. Click TAX TOOLS on the left side-bar
2. Click TOOLS from the drop-down
3. Select “View Tax Summary” on the Tools Center screen 
4. Click on “Preview my 1040” which now appears on the left side-bar

[xmasbaby0]

After 2021's generous child tax credit, many people are surprised this year by how much less they are receiving.

The tax laws changed for child-related credits and are much less generous for 2022.

Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number.    Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment.  If your child was born in 2022 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year.  There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support.  Say NO to that question.

Have you entered income from working in 2022?  If not,  you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2022 return are very different.  For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work.   That is NOT the way it will work for your 2022 tax return.  The “old” rules are back. 

  The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1500.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1500 per child. 

 If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2022, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-f...

And for the Earned Income Credit—-the rules are back to the “old” rules—

Those under 25 and over 65 without children are not eligible as they were uniquely in 2021.   And you cannot use your income from any earlier tax year to get the EIC for a 2022 return.  There is no “lookback” for 2022.  EIC for 2022 will be based on the income you earned by working in 2022.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899157-what-are-the-qualifications-for-the-earned-income-credit-e...

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

Look at your 2022 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

[Cheryl1958]

Does being on social security remove getting Child Tax credit for granddaughters we have been raising since 2010?  
we usually get the credits but this year got 0 when we evoked our taxes with Turbo Tax 

[xmasbaby0]

@Cheryl1958 Sorry---the tax laws changed a lot for 2022.  If your income is Social Security you will not be able to get child-related credits.  For 2022, the child tax credit is based on income earned from working.   

[Vanessa A]

Yes, having income from only social security would prevent you from getting the CTC. If you do not have earned income, then you are not eligible for the Child Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit.  The rules for 2021 were different than other years, but in all other years, you do have to have income from working to get the credit. 

[Cheryl1958]

Isn’t that crazy (but doesn’t surprise me with all the other changes recently)… retired due to business shortage during covid and fact the gurls are teenagers now and require full day of availability from both of us . Worked in insurance 45 years and hubby had construction company for 50+. Ugh!

[lwright1]

I received a letter from the IRS stating that my refund had been reduced from what Turbo Tax said it should be because there was an error in the area of Child Tax Credit/Credit for other Dependents. From what I can tell everything on the 1040 is correct so I am confused. Did Turbo Tax not calculate correctly? 

[xmasbaby0]

@lwright1   Was that IRS letter for your 2021 tax return?  Did you make a mistake on your 2021 return and forget to enter the advance monthly child tax credit payments they sent to you between July and December of 2021?  Lots of people made mistakes with that.

 If you received monthly child tax credit payments of $250 or $300 per month between July and December of 2021, then you got letter 6419 from the IRS, and you were required to enter the amount of the advance payments.   Only the remaining amount of the CTC should have been on line 28 of your Form 1040.  If you filed a joint return they sent letter 6419 to each of you and you had to enter the amounts from each letter.

The IRS knows how much they sent to you so they checked line 28, and if you had too much on that line, they reduced your refund.

[lwright1]

No. It specifically says 2022. I did everything through Turbo Tax so I didn't actually enter the numbers in the boxes. I just answered the questions. In 2021 we did receive the payments during the year and I accounted for that on our 2021 return. 

[DaveF1006]

 t would be helpful to have a TurboTax ".tax2022" file that is experiencing this issue.

You can send us a “diagnostic” file that has your “numbers” but not your personal information. If you would like to do this, here are the instructions: 

If using Turbo Tax online:

1. Click on Tax Tools in the black left menu bar
2. Click on Tools>share my file with agent
3. press ok and you should get a token number

At the top menu in the black line at the top of the page go to Online. 

1. From the menu, select Send Tax File to Agent. 
2. You will see a message explaining what the diagnostic copy is. Click Send and then you will get a Token number. 
3. Reply to this thread with your Token number. This will allow us to open a copy of your return without seeing any personal information.  

@lwright1 

[lwright1]

@DaveF1006 I have Turbo Tax open but only see Tax Home and Tax Documents in the Black Left menu bar. 

[DaveF1006]

It sounds like you have already completed and submitted your return.  in this case, you can still send me the file by going to Add a State in the bottom of your landing page in the right pane. This will place you back into the return.  Once there:

1. Click on Tax Tools in the black left menu bar
2. Click on Tools>share my file with agent
3. press ok and you should get a token number

@lwright1 

[lwright1]

@DaveF1006 Thank you. I just sent it. 

[DaveF1006]

What is the token number?