So you have not even completed your Form 1040? You may have yourself all worked up over nothing. You need to be able to look at lines 27 and 28 to see the total amounts of your ACTC and your EIC. I think you are very possibly misinterpeting the amount you are seeing so far.
With five children the total amount of your CTC is indeed $10,00. But that is not all refundable. The MOST you could get as a refundable amount for those five kids is determined by doing the math as explained earlier in this thread. It is not going to be $10K. You have no tax liability, so the CTC is not reducing anything for you. You can still get the refundable "additional child tax credit" based on how much you earned by working. That amount is going to show up on line 28.
**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.**
