How come I’m not receiving more child tax for my children? Shouldn’t it be $1800 per child?

[xmasbaby0]

No.   

The 2021 child-related credits were very generous.  Lots of people are still being taken by surprise when they find out the credits for 2022 and 2023  are lower than they were for 2021.

The tax laws changed for child-related credits and are much less generous for 2022 and 2023.

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 2023 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.

Have you entered income from working in 2023?  If not,  you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2023 return are very different.  For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work.   That is NOT the way it will work for your 2023 tax return.  The “old” rules are back. 

  The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1600.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1600 per child. If the amount you earned was too low, you will not get the full $1600.

 If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2023, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/additional-child-tax-credit/L6x...

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-f...

And for the Earned Income Credit—-the rules are back to the “old” rules—

Those under 25 and over 65 without children are not eligible as they were uniquely in 2021.   And you cannot use your income from any earlier tax year to get the EIC for a 2022 return.  There is no “lookback” for 2023.  EIC for 2023 will be based on the income you earned by working in 2023.

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

Look at your 2023 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

And....if you have heard something about an increase in the CTC:

ENHANCED CHILD TAX CREDIT BILL

No one here knows if or when the proposed enhanced child tax credit bill will pass.  It has gone through the House Ways and Means Committee and now it is in the hands of 535 state representatives and senators in Congress.     It has not been passed or signed into law.    IF and when it passes, we do not know when they will make it effective or how it will be implemented.  They are still wrangling with it so we do not know what it will look like when they are done.

It is unlikely to affect your 2023 return; maybe enough members of Congress remember what a mess they created when they changed the tax law for taxing unemployment during the 2020 tax filing season in 2021 and will not want to do that to the U.S. public again in mid tax season.  Or maybe they will go ahead anyhow.  We do not know.   But if it affects you for 2023 they will have to provide a way for you to get the credit. Changing the tax forms and formatting them for tax software is a very complex process, so expect it to take a long time for them to sort it out if they even pass the bill.     

[Mike9241]

look at form 8812 

it's the smaller of $2000 subject to phase out or your tax liability, regular + any AMT,  reduced by foreign tax credit, and other nonrefundable personal credits.

[JulieS]

No, the refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) is $1,600 for 2023. That is less than it was in 2021. 

You can receive up to $2,000 per qualifying child, but it depends on your income and the total number of dependents you have. As Mike9241 points out, look at your Schedule 8812 to see the details of the CTC on your return.