Does it actually say you are not eligible?
The Child Tax credit is a non refundable credit worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child. In order to qualify for this credit, you must first have a qualifying child, have a tax liability to be reduced by the credit and have income of less than $200,000 if single and $400,000 if married filing jointly. If your income is greater than these limits, the credit is phased out gradually.
If you do not have a high enough tax liability to claim the credit, then you may be eligible for the Additional Child Tax Credit. This credit, is the refundable portion of the child tax credit. It is worth up to $1,600 per child.
You cannot claim these credits if your filing status is married filing separately, unless you have lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year. It is calculated by taking subtracting $2,500 from your income and then multiplying that number by 15%.
A few things you can check if you think you should have received the child tax credit and you didn't.
- Double check your entries starting with the personal info section making sure you have entered all information including social security numbers for your kids.
- Did your child live with you for 6 months or more during the year? If not, you do not qualify. If your child was born during the tax year, you will need to select that they lived with you for the entire year.
- Did you enter your income? Did you double check your entries? You need to have income to get the credit, so if you do not have in excess of $2,500 or you have income above the phaseout, you may not qualify for the credit.
You can see the child tax credit amount received on line 19 of your 1040 or the additional child tax credit on line 28. To see your 1040 click Tools>>Tax Tools>>Preview My 1040.
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