@Bobicus The child tax credit was increased for 2021 to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children between 6 and 17.
The IRS started sending this money out to families in July of last year - up to $300 a month for each child under 6 and $250 a month for each child between 6 and 17.
In January you should have received Letter 6419 from the IRS. This letter showed all the advance child tax credit payments that the IRS sent to you. When you were doing your taxes for 2021 you were prompted to enter in the amount that you received already and it should have reduced the credit that you got on your return by that amount.
So, if you had one child under six and you received all your payments last year the credit of $3,600 on your return would be reduced to $1,800. If you didn't input all of the money that you received in advance then the IRS reduced your refund by that amount because you already got it.
The same is true of the recovery rebate credit. That was the third stimulus payment that was received in March of 2021. If you didn't receive this payment it should have been entered on your tax return. If you have already received this payment then the IRS reduced your refund because you already got it.
If you did not receive any of these payments in advance and added them to your return because of that you need to make sure that no one could have received them on your behalf. If you did receive these payments in advance then the IRS was correct in reducing your refund.
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