@kemo1a No one is being penalized for opting out of advance child tax credit payments. If you opted out of the payments that were sent out between July and December, then you could receive the full amount of the same child tax credit as part of your refund when you prepared your 2021 return. It would have shown up on line 28 of your Form 1040. If you had any tax due, the CTC was used as a credit against the tax you owed.
You have not actually described or explained a problem with your 2021 return---so we do not know if you are having a problem or got a reduced refund. It sounds like you are anticipating a problem that you want to blame the software for, even before your return has been processed, unless there are some details you have left out.
Did something happen with your refund?
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
