Criteria for Child Tax Credit

[Lainyb]

An earlier question/response on here has me confused. It sounded like you can only receive the child tax credit if you reported expenses paid to take care of the child on form 2441. I received the credit in 2020 but I didn't report any expenses in 2020 on this form other than unused dependent care benefits (which was from a DCFSA). Do you need to report expenses to receive it?

And, are the requirements different in 2021 than in 2020? 

[Nick-K-EA]

Anybody who meets the criteria can receive the Child Tax Credit. The Child and Dependent Care Credit requires paid childcare, and has other criteria as well. The TurboTax website has information on the Child Tax Credit  and the Child and Dependent Care Credit.

[Lainyb]

I didn't realize they were two separate things, sounds like I was mixing them up thinking they were the same. Thank you!