Why am I returning all the refundable CTC back to IRS?

[xmasbaby0]

We cannot see your tax return, but lots of people have been very confused by the child tax credit and have trouble understanding how it is calculated and how it is supposed to look on their tax form.

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.   Then it will calculate down to the refund you see on line 35a or the tax due on line 37.

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.

[NCperson]

Line 28 should simply be 

$3600 for each child under the age of 6

$3000 for each child ages 6-17

LESS

what you received monthly from JUly - Dec, 2021 - if you did not enter this number correctly, Line 28 is not accurate and THAT is what the IRS is probably adjusting. 

[mniyyati-gmail-c]

If I has opted out would I get a better tax return? I feel by receiving the credit I had less tax return.

[VolvoGirl]

Yes if you didn't get the Advance you would get the whole credit on your tax return.  But you already got half so you aren't losing anything.

I found this in a news article, it explains it pretty well........

While the CTC expansion was structured to not increase taxes on any household, a dollar of credit received in advance results in a dollar less received at filing time. For families unaware of the trade-off, it could mean a surprise when they see their refund total this year.

Consider a married couple with a 10-year-old child who normally received their $2,000 CTC when they filed their taxes. They would have received $1,500 of their $3,000 in advance. As such, they could potentially see their refund shrink by $500 even though their total benefit increased to $3,000 because they are left with $1,500 instead of their normal $2,000 at tax time.

[NCperson]

@mniyyati-gmail-c - you received the same amount of money - but half was received from July to December instead of the whole thing refunded on your tax return. 

So yes, the refund on the tax return was less, but that is because some of the money was already given to you.