We believe that we are NOT eligible for the credit, so would need to repay the amount received, if that makes any difference.
Enter your Advance Child Tax Credit information from IRS Letter 6419 here:
If you are not eligible for the payments (e.g., your income is too high), the program will let you know, and also what you may
need to pay back.
Enter your Advance Child Tax Credit information from IRS Letter 6419 here:
If you are not eligible for the payments (e.g., your income is too high), the program will let you know, and also what you may
need to pay back.
You are the first to post this letter info ... may I ask. Did both of you get the same notice reporting the entire amount received ? Or just 1/2 each ?
If it was the total on both letters were there instructions to NOT enter more than the total amount you actually got combined ?
We both got identical notices (other than our names). The instructions on the letter were to add the two amounts when reporting. TurboTax actually prompts for each spouse's amount, now that I know where to enter it!
Say you got just $2000 total in advance between you both ... did the notice indicate the full $2000 on each letter or just $1000 each ? Some have said it said it was the full amount twice and if you enter that full amount twice and you only got it once then the CTC on the return will be wrong ... just trying to get a grip on what the IRS sent for others who will ask ... thanks for your time.
My wife and I got the letter as well. It lists the full amount we got in advance identically on each of our Letter 6419's. What's strange is that I believe this will cause us to show as having received double what we actually received. But the letter does say to add up the amounts when entering it and report the total. Does anyone know if that is correct?
If you filed a joint return in 2020 and you are sure how much you got in advance then only report the amounts you actually got and not necessarily what is on the 6419 letter as that could be incorrect. If you enter what it says then you will miss out on the second 1/2 of the credit.
Is there a number on the letter to call to complain about the incorrect amount ? If there is I would call it.
This is going to be a nightmare for some ... but do the right thing ... from this article : https://www.saverlife.org/money-101/what-to-do-when-the-irs-sends-you-letter-6419
In January 2022, the IRS will send out these letters to households. Letter 6419 will serve as a reminder to log into your IRS tax account and make sure the advance Child Tax Credit payments the IRS says you received match up with what was deposited into your account.
What should I do with the letter?
The IRS recommends you keep this letter for your records and include it with your tax documents.
You can find more information about the Child Tax Credit changes here and you can find out about what will happen if you received the wrong amount of advance payments here.
What address does the IRS send the letter to?
The IRS will send Letter 6419 to the last address they have on file for you. Usually, this comes from the last tax return that you filed.
If you moved recently, you’ll want to make sure you get mail from the IRS, including this letter. You can do this by updating your address with the IRS. This can be done by mail, phone, or online. You can call the IRS to change your address at 1-800-829-1040.
You can complete and mail Form 8822 to change your address. Note: It can normally take the IRS four to six weeks to process a change of address that is mailed in.
Also, the Child Tax Credit Update Portal now allows you to change your address. This may be the simplest and quickest way to update our change of address.
You can still file your tax return without Letter 6419. The most important thing is that you make sure you enter the correct total amount for the advance Child Tax Credit payments into your tax return.
If what you enter differs from what the IRS has on record, it may delay the processing of your tax return.
We’ll know more about this as we get closer to tax season. Since this is a new process, the IRS hasn’t yet provided detailed information about the processing. We do know that many saw delays in the processing of their 2020 tax returns when the amount they entered in their 2020 tax return for the stimulus checks (or economic impact payments) did not match IRS records.
Here are some ways to get the correct total:
If you have a tax professional prepare your tax return, expect that they will ask you for proof of the amount of payments you are claiming you received.
You can still file your tax return with what you believe is the correct amount, but make sure that you have documentation (ex: bank statements, etc.).
You may need that documentation later. As was mentioned above, if the number you enter for total payments differs from what the IRS has on file, your tax return – and tax refund – may be delayed.
If the IRS makes an adjustment to your tax return, you can expect to receive a letter from the IRS explaining the adjustment. If at that point you still believe the IRS is wrong, the letter should explain what further actions you can take.
If you aren’t comfortable navigating this situation on your own, you can consider engaging a tax professional or inquiring with the Taxpayer Advocate Service about whether or not they can help.
You may need to compare the payment dates and amounts the IRS says you received to what you actually received. The IRS does offer payment traces upon request, and you may request your bank do some tracing. Although, if money was sent to another account they cannot give you the information about that other account. If you suspect you may be a victim of identity theft, you may need to take some actions. The IRS provides identity theft guidance here and the FTC provides guidance here.
If you and the IRS don’t agree on the amount of Advance Child Tax Credit Payments received, it may take months to resolve.
Thank you so much for the reply! I'm embarrssed to say that, after double checking, I actually did get the combined amount listed between the two letters as advanced payments. So it looks like, for people who are Married Filing Jointly, the total amount given in advance is divided and sent out as two letters, one to each spouse. When you enter the amount from each letter it adds up to the full amount given in advance. Thank you again for your answer and I apologize I had the wrong info to start with.
Have a great night,
Andrew
Thank goodness ... but remember the IRS is not always correct and questioning it is allowed.
Most definitely. But this one was all me getting confused. We had a bank account get hacked into earlier in the year and had to replace it, so I only say a portion of the payments to the new account. At least this info hopefully gives you some idea on how they are sending out those letters. Thank you again for the replies and have a great night!
Thanks for this information. As a preparer I’m getting a lot of the same questions.
My husband and I filed jointly in 2020, and we only have one child for whom we received the Child Tax Credit. In the TurboTax section, where it lists us separately, do we put 1 child by each of our names? Or 1 by one person's name and 0 by the other?
You should enter the number 1 beside each of you because your child is a qualifying child to each of you. The return will show only one child for the Child Tax Credit and the math will work out correctly. I tested it to be sure.
It's important to use the IRS letter 6419 to enter the information to eliminate potential delays.
If both my letter and wife's letter were for the exact same dollar amount showing, and same number of dependents, do I need to enter just 1 of the letter's information into TurboTax, or do I need to enter both identical amounts, if filing jointly.
You need to enter both letters exactly as they are. The amount of each of your letters should be half of the total amount received each month.
I had not received Letter 6419 as of yesterday, but filed anyway because I used the IRS portal to see the exact amounts of received credits. When entering the amounts for my spouse and myself, I asked Turbo Tax Live chat if I needed to enter the full amount in my box and zero for my spouse, or half and half. The Live chat rep told me to enter the full amount in mine and zero for my spouse. E-filed last night. Well, today I received the Letter...and my wife received a Letter. Half and half. Hopefully no delays because the total amount is correct, even though entered incorrectly in the boxes, but I fear there will be problems. Any thoughts from anyone?
@Ryan58 No worries!
As long as the total amount that you entered on your joint return is correct then then your bottom line will be correct regardless of which spouse you put the amounts under.
If you look on the form 8812 it only reports the AGGREGATE of the total you and your spouse got combined ... so as long as you entered the total in some way everything will be fine. The program asks for it separately only because that is how the IRS reports it and they don't want to confuse the user.
Not an exact answer.
The Turbo Tax software has a space to enter what is showing on the IRS form that has my name, and a separate field for my wife, but I think I need to see how much money was paid out to me (via my bank acct) to find out the total of what was paid.
If I was paid 4000, for example, and my letter said 2,000, and my wife said the same, I need to enter both. But if our letters said 4,000 on both, and we only got paid 4,000, I believe I only have to enter this value into one field in the software.
OK thanks. Yes mine’s the same dilemma. Trying to be proactive but I don’t have my form(s) 6419 yet. I know ,via the portal ,what we received total, just wondering if I should split that amount, One for the box with my name and one for the box with my spouse’s name.
thank you for the quick reply
Yes, this question was answered by @TomK100 earlier. Here is a ink with more information on entering Advanced Child Tax Credit information.
If you received Advanced Child Tax Credit payments between Jul-Dec 2021 you will get an IRS letter 6419. If you are married, your spouse will receive a letter as well. You must add/enter the amounts for both letters on a joint return to arrive at the proper amount of advanced child tax credit.
Here is the dilemma. July and August we received ONE payment jointly into our bank account. Then Sept-Dec they sent us separate payments which equaled the Total for the month. However in each of our child tax portal it shows the July and August payments under both of our accounts even though we received ONE deposit for this. So what’s gonna be on the letter and portal is $3000 more than we were actually paid. This will reduce our 2022 child tax money by $3000 which is incorrect. Please advise how we report and handle to not delay the refund.
Federal>Deductions and Credits>You and Your Family>Child Tax Credit
The IRS is sending out letter 6419 to you. It will show the amount of advance child tax credit that you received during 2021. Enter the information from that letter carefully. The remaining amount of CTC that you can receive will show up on line 28 of your 2021 Form 1040.
PREVIEW 1040
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing
Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.
NOTE: The CTC is indeed a “credit” that can be applied toward any tax liability that you would otherwise have to pay as “tax due” to the IRS.