Child Tax Credit

[Hambone1]

For 2019 we got a $2000 credit for our dependent, a granddaughter who lives with us and who we totally support.  This year I am only getting $500.  Why? Did the tax code change from 2019 to 2020?

[xmasbaby0]

Did she turn 17 in 2020?  In the year that a child turns 17 you lose the child tax credit--which often comes as a shock to people claiming a teenage dependent--but that is how Congress wrote the tax law.

[Hambone1]

She was 14 in 2020. She is a granddaughter and it appears that she is now considered an Other Dependent instead of a Dependent as in years past.  Is that what has changed from 2019 to 2020?