2021 Child Tax Credit Age Limit Change and Amending Return

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Hello, based on some information I came across on the IRS website and also on this TurboTax community site, it appears that there was an update to the age limit for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for tax year 2021. The age limit changed AFTER I had already filed my taxes. My daughter turned 17 in 2021 so she actually qualified for the CTC, however, TurboTax instead qualified her for the "Credit for Other Dependents" for $500. I believe this to be incorrect, TurboTax should have qualified her for the CTC $3000.

This post here has information on this change:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-deductions/discussion/2021-advctc-and-ctc-in-general/01/2685735#M258358

A1. For tax year 2021, the Child Tax Credit increased from $2,000 per qualifying child to:

$3,600 for children ages 5 and under at the end of 2021; and
$3,000 for children ages 6 through 17 at the end of 2021.

I am now trying to do an amended return to fix this but TurboTax is still not correctly qualifying my daughter for the $3000 CTC. Can anyone point me in the right direction to address this problem?

Thanks.

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xmasbaby0

Level 15

The child tax credit amount did not change after people began to file 2021 tax returns in 2022. The law that changed the amount of the child tax credit actually went into effect well ahead of the time people began to file 2021 returns. Many folks received "advance" child tax credit payments from July 2021 to December 2021, and then reconciled the amount of the advance payments against the balance they could still get on line 28 of their Form 1040's.

So.....if your child who was only 17 at the end 2021 did not get the CTC then it was for some other reason. Did you enter the child's Social Security number in My Info? When you were asked if the SSN was valid for employment did you say YES ? Did you say your child lived in the U.S. for at least six months in 2021?

**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.**

gldni007Author

Level 2

When I walk through the CTC section in Turbo Tax for doing an amended return, it does not ask any of those questions you mention. The only questions are the following:

Did you receive any advance Child Tax Credit payments? - Answered NO
Was your main home located in the US for 6 or more months during 2021? - Answered YES
Let's check for uncommon situations - Of which I selected None apply.

If those questions were mentioned when I originally filed, I can't imagine not answering them correctly. Is there anyway for me to know?

The one thing I do know is that the section for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) "Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents" lists "0" (zero) on line 4a

"Number of qualifying children under age 18 with required ss#"

And zero for line 4b

"Number of children included on line 4a who were under age 6 at end of 2021"

This is incorrect, line 4a should have been "1". However, TurboTax fills this in behind the scenes so there's no way for me to know why it did that. At least, best I can tell.

xmasbaby0

Level 15

Take another look at the date of birth you entered in My Info and make sure you entered it correctly. The child had to be UNDER the age of 18 at the end of 2021 to get the CTC.

And....was this YOUR child? Not the child of a girlfriend or boyfriend who lived with you?