I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?

chrissybelle — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:11:04 GMT

Now it says I owe money I can't even pay.. I take seizures and can't work so how am I supposed to pay anything

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 18:16:32 GMT

Sorry---you misunderstood how the child-related credits work.

The 2021 child-related credits were very generous. Lots of people are being taken by surprise this year when they find out the credits for 2022 and 2023 are lower than they were for 2021.

The tax laws changed for child-related credits and are much less generous for 2022 and 2023.

Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number. Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment. If your child was born in 2023 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year. There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support. Say NO to that question.

Have you entered income from working in 2023? If not, you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2023 return are very different. For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work. That is NOT the way it will work for your 2023 tax return. The “old” rules are back.

The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1600. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working. The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1600 per child. If the amount you earned was too low, you will not get the full $1600.

If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2023, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/additional-child-tax-credit/L6xFeMFEf_US_en_US?uid=lqnuygah

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-for-other-dependents

And for the Earned Income Credit—-the rules are back to the “old” rules—

Those under 25 and over 65 without children are not eligible as they were uniquely in 2021. And you cannot use your income from any earlier tax year to get the EIC for a 2022 return. There is no “lookback” for 2023. EIC for 2023 will be based on the income you earned by working in 2023.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899157-what-are-the-qualifications-for-the-earned-income-credit-eic-or-eitc

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

Look at your 2023 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

AND….If you have children but had little or no income, it raises the question of how you and the children were supported. There may be another tax-paying adult who can claim you and/or the children as dependents.

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I...

Vanessa A — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 18:12:23 GMT

No, beginning with the 2022 tax year the rules for the Child Tax Credit reverted back to Pre-2020 rules. This means, you would have to have at least $2,500 in income in order to qualify for the Child Tax Credit.

If you have no income, you would not owe anything. If you are seeing that you owe a fee for TurboTax simply close out of the program and nothing will happen. You do not owe anything if you do not file. Since you have no income, you cannot file a return.

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 18:13:12 GMT

@chrissybelle You are posting from a paid version of the software. If you had no taxable income you do not even need to file a tax return at all. Abandon the account and do not try to file.

topic I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I...

Re: I'm a single mother and have no income .. my child is 6 yrs old but for some reason it says I'm making 0.00 on my federal.. Aren't we supposed to be eligible for this?