3rd Baby / Pay Raise - Child Tax Credit

[educateme123]

Hi - we just had our third child in March 2021. I also received a pay raise in July 2021. I was out on Maternity Leave from March through May 2021. Right now we are receiving $600 a month for our 4 year old twins. We are filed as married/jointly. Our AGI is under $100k from 2020. 

If I'm understanding correctly, are we going to receive 3rd baby's full credit ($3600) and half of the twin's credit ($3600) in March 2022 (based on 2021 taxes). 

We usually receive a refund usually around $3-4k. Are we okay with the maternity leave, the 3rd baby addition, and pay raise in our refund? Is it possible we still receive a substantial refund, as long as everything else stays the same? 

Thanks in advance! 

[NateTheGrEAt · Accepted solution]

Hi educateme123,

Congratulations on your new addition! 

While I don't know the amount of your pay raise or exactly how much financial impact the maternity leave had, I can point out some general concepts that may help you answer your own question.

Last year you received a refund of $3-4k. Last year the CTC was $2000 per child so you would have received $4000 for the twins. 

This year, the CTC you will receive is $7200 - as you calculated correctly. $3600 for the child born in 2021 and $1800 each for the non-advanced half of each of the twins' CTC.  So for starters you have an additional $3200 in CTC that you didn't get last year. 

So, if everything else stayed exactly the same from last year you would have a $6000-$7000 refund ($3-4k plus $3200). 

Only you can assess the impact of the pay raise vs. maternity leave, but since you received a fairly healthy refund last year I can presume you generally have adequate withholding from your jobs. As long as that continues to be the case I see no reason you could not expect another solid refund this year.