@maschine No, the stimulus was not a loan. You are not repaying it or being taxed on it. You are simply misinterpreting the way the calculations are done. And---it is admittedly confusing to users.
The "refund monitor" starts off by giving your all of the stimulus money and all of the child tax credit because the software does not know yet that you received stimulus money or that you received some advance child tax credit payments. That gets reconciled later.
That "refund monitor" changes as you enter information. That is normal. And you cannot take it seriously until you enter ALL of your information---even though it is so tempting to believe that the highest amount is the "right" 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.**
