topic Hello! Why when I add information about my children, I get information that they are not my dependents? They are 3 and 5 years old and I fully support them. Thank you! in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Hello! Why when I add information about my children, I get information that they are not my dependents? They are 3 and 5 years old and I fully support them. Thank you!

slayboka — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 05:40:18 GMT

Re: Hello! Why when I add information about my children, I get information that they are not my dependents? They are 3 and 5 years old and I fully support them. Thank you!

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:49:36 GMT

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 2024 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 2024? If not, you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700. 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 $1700 per child. If the amount you earned was too low, you will not get the full $1700.

If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2024, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/child-tax-credit/L2lNhfGDl_US_en_US?uid=m68dfq2u

Re: Hello! Why when I add information about my children, I get information that they are not my d...

MindyB — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 23:53:52 GMT

In order to ensure TurboTax is including your dependents, make sure you have answered all the questions in "My Info" regarding the dependents.

Navigate to My Info, Your household, select the first dependent.

Choose "My child", continue and be sure their name, date of birth and proper citizenship is complete.
Continue, and answer the question about living arrangements and parents.
Continue, and answer any less common situations, if applicable.
Lastly, enter the child's SSN and be sure that "Not valid for employment is printed..." is NOT checked.