Why would our Federal tax return refund be reduced by irs?

[jennbackus]

I have two children. 1 is 19 and 1 is 12. I checked off 19 year old as not eligible for child tax credit however checked off my 12 year old is eligible.

[VolvoGirl]

Could be lots of reasons.  The IRS will mail you a letter.  Probably nothing to do with your children.  I've been seeing if you have self employment income and self employment tax that is deferred they have been taking it out of your refund. 

 See if the tax is listed on 1040 Schedule 2 line 4 which goes to 1040 line 23.  That was being deferred. And now the IRS is saying you can't defer it.   

The self employment tax deferral is an optional benefit.  It is also a deferral rather than forgiveness, so those amounts will eventually need to be repaid. Half of the deferred amount is due on December 31, 2021, and the other half is due on December 31, 2022.

Check if you have a Schedule 3 line 12e which goes to 1040 line 13.

[jennbackus]

Thank you. I checked both. I don't have any an a dollar amount submitted in Section 3. I didn't submit Section 2 form. My husband nor I are self employed. 

I did submit an Education Credit form 8863. I think this was due to my son being enrolled in college. Right? We paid in full. Should I not have submitted that form? 

[VolvoGirl]

I only mentioned about self employment because you posted from the Self Employed version.  Sorry then I don't know.  Wait for the IRS letter explaining it.  

[jennbackus]

Thank you! 

[VolvoGirl]

A common adjustment is if you claimed the Recovery Rebate Credit on 1040 line 30 when you already got the 1st or 2nd Stimulus payments or got the second one after you filed or reported the wrong amounts. Do you have an amount on line 30? And you had to report the right amount in each box. If you put the total in 1 box it would give you the other amount again. The IRS knows they already sent it to you. Line 30 is only if you qualify more.

[jennbackus]

I do have have amount in line 30 Form 1040..I also have another amount in line 1 which is the amount from Part 3 - line 30. (This is a different amount). 

I did receive Stimulus checks.

I feel as if this was all fill in the blanks and Turbo Tax asked questions and I answered them accordingly. It's not that as if I determined I was eligible for more $. I could be wrong though.