@Critter-3 wrote:
Once again the rules on the 2021 return will be different so the number you would use next year is 8800.
I don't think we actually know the answer to that until the forms come out. Just because the child tax credit will be fully refundable ($3000 per child) doesn't mean they will change the order in which the credits are applied. It could still be that the max EV credit for this taxpayer would be $2800 next year.
In any case, since the enhanced child credit will lower your tax one way or another, 2021 would be a good year to take certain steps that will increase your 2021 tax but lower your future tax.
(Note that the "lowering your future tax" part of the equation is critical. If you can't lower your future tax, then there's no point in paying more tax this year just to "use up" the EV credit. If your tax before the credit is $2800, and the credit zeroes it out, or your tax is $7000 before the credit, and the credit zeroes it out, you end up the same, except for bragging rights.)
The main thing that comes to mind to increase 2021 income tax and lower future year income tax is to rollover an IRA to a Roth IRA (Roth IRA conversion), or to change your current retirement contributions (401k at work or private IRA) from a pre-tax basis to an after-tax basis (Roth IRA or designated Roth account within a 401k).
