I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?

user17723968308 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 19:46:02 GMT

I have no other deductions to claim - no childcare expenses, no rent, no utilities, no mortgage, etc.

Re: I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?

xmasbaby0 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 20:11:50 GMT

Your income was very low. The refundable child-related credits are based on the amount of income you earned from working, so it is not surprising that your refund is low.

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 2025 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.

If your dependent was a full-time college student, make sure you were careful on the MY INFO screen for “Uncommon situations” and that you indicated there that they were a student.

Have you entered income from working in 2025? 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 $2200 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.

Take the amount you earned from working. Subtract $2500. Multiply the rest by 15%. That is the additional child tax credit per child that you canget—- up to the maximum of $1700 per child. If the amount you earned from working was low, you will not get the full $1700 per child.

If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2025, 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

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—-

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-earned-income-credit-eic-eitc/L7w4BFP32_US_en_US?uid=m62rmz09

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

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf

Look at your 2025 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-return-filing/L77WCkvnu_US_en_US?uid=m681fkhr

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

Re: I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?

Opus 17 — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 20:11:56 GMT

Every situation is unique. However, both the child tax credit and the earned income credit are based on income from working (wages or self-employment). If you have less than $5000 of earned income, you won't qualify for anywhere near the potential maximum credits.

topic I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more? in Retirement tax questions

I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?

Re: I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?

Re: I had income of $4,800 last year, and have 6 dependents - one is an adult, the others are under age 17. I am getting about $2,500 back from Federal. Should it be more?