JulieS
Expert Alumni

Deductions & credits

Yes, using the Married Filing Separately (MFS) filing status doesn't prevent you from getting the Child Tax Credit (CTC), but it'll reduce the amount you can get by half. In addition, MFS prevents you from getting Earned Income Credit (EIC) and many other deductions and credits.

 

As Xmasbaby points out, you may be better off filing jointly, but of course, that's not always an option. 

 

You should review the questions you answered about your child to see why there's no CTC. Here's how to do that:

 

 

 

  1. Sign in to your TurboTax account.
  2. Select  My info, then Edit.
  3. Select the down arrow to the right of your child's name, then Edit.
  4. Select My child.
  5. Make sure you have a first name, last name, date of birth and that you have selected US citizen or legal resident from the dropdown at the bottom. 
  6. Since your child was born during 2023, you need to select Yes to Did (Name) live with you for the whole year? 
  7. Since you are filing separately, you will be asked about your child's other parent. If you live with the other parent and they have a higher income, you can't claim your child as your dependent, so you won't get the CTC. 
  8. Answer the rest of the questions based on your situation.
  9. If your child doesn't have a Social Security number yet, you won't get the CTC. 
  10. At the end of the section, you should see either Good news! (Name) qualifies as your dependent, or an explanation of why they do not. 

 

If you still have questions about the CTC after reviewing this section, reply back and TurboTax can help you further. 

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