Explain how the CTC and EIC are calculated. It appears in the TurboTax the formula is inaccurate - IRS doesn't have a min income to earn full credit, but TurboTx does.

[sailqa17]

How do we get the full CTC?  When earning less, I don't get the full credit, same with the EIC.  So people that make less income don't get the full credit?

[xmasbaby0]

You may not get the "full" child tax credit if you did not earn enough by working.  The rules for child tax credit and EIC are not the same for 2022 tax returns---they are changed a lot from the rules for 2021 tax returns.   For 2022, your CTC will be based on your tax liability and the amount you earned by working.   The refundable portion of the CTC--up to $1500-- is calculated by multiplying the amount you earned above $2500 by 15%. 

For 2021, you did not even have to work to get $3600 for a child under 6, or $3000 for a child age 6 to 17.  For 2022, the maximum amount of CTC is $2000, with only up to $1500 being the refundable "additional child tax credit" --which is based on how much you earned.   And you do not get the CTC if the child is older than 16.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit

 Your earned income credit is also based on the amount you earned by working---so you may not be getting the "full" amount if you did not earn enough--or if you earned too much.   EIC is calculated on a bell curve---your EIC is affected by how much or how little you earned.   Not everyone gets the "full" amount.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899157-what-are-the-qualifications-for-the-earned-income-credit-e...

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

[NCperson]

@sailqa17 - the rules for CTC are not the same as 2021.  In 2021 there was no minimum earned income required - that was a unique COVID rule for that one year only.  For 2022, similar to 2020, there is an income requirment!

here are the rules

for CTC: it's $2,000 per child or the tax liability on Line 18 of Form 1040 -  whichever is LESS

PLUS , the additional child tax credit:  which is the LESSER of 

1) $1500 per child

2) 15% of the earned income over $2500

3) $2000 minus the CTC calculated above.

the bolded item is the critical one if your income is low.

For EITC, the rules are basically the same as last  year.  HOWEVER, in 2021 only, individuals under the age of 25 with no children were eligible; that is not true in 2022.  you must be at least 25  years old to be eligile. The amount of EITC is from the table on page 46 and that table is effectively unchanged (except for inflation) compoared to 2021. 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf