I know the amount of my advance child tax credit. I am married, filing jointly and it's asking for my credit as well as my spouse. Do I just enter mine or both?

[zevi8]

We got half of the child tax credit, $250 a month for 6 months. $1500 total. I can't enter $1500 on my line and my spouse because that will make it $3000. $750 on each line? $1500 on just one?

[Affordabletaxes2021]

Yes since only the total amount you received is entered on tax form. 

[xmasbaby0]

Federal>Deductions and Credits>You and Your Family>Child Tax Credit

The IRS is sending out letter 6419 to you.  It will show the amount of advance child tax credit that you received during 2021.  Enter the information from that letter carefully.   The remaining amount of CTC that you can receive will show up on line 28 of your 2021 Form 1040.

PREVIEW 1040

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

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

NOTE:   The CTC is indeed a “credit” that can be applied toward any tax liability that you would otherwise have to pay as “tax due”  to the IRS.

And…..Ignore that “refund monitor.”  The software STARTS OFF by giving you the full amount of CTC.   When you enter the amounts from your letter, the software reconciles the amount you received with the amount you can still get IF you are eligible to get the other half.     You are NOT losing any of the credit; you are not being taxed on the credit.  Don’t get confused by the reconciled amount.   You got some of it already—-now you get the rest.

 If you received the advance payment and are NOT eligible to get the other half, then it will not show up on line 28.  (Such as in some cases where the wrong parent got the advance payments, etc.)

That “refund monitor” should not be taken seriously until every last morsel of your data has been entered.

[MinhT1]

The amounts of Advance child tax credit that you should report on your tax return are indicated on the 6419 letters that each spouse received from the IRS.

If you are sure of the total Advance child tax credit that you have received, you can report the total on one spouse or split the amount between the spouses. Any error in reporting this total amount will be spotted by the IRS when they check with their records and this will delay the processing of your return and your refund if you have one.

In fact, when you enter the amount that each spouse has on their 6419 letters, the amounts are added together to be reported on one line of form 8812 and it is the total amount that the IRS will match with their records.

[zevi8]

I am aware of the form but I have not received it yet. I logged in to my irs online and I know how much I received, just not sure how much to put on each line

[xmasbaby0]

@zevi8 It would be best to wait for letter 6419 so that you make sure you enter it all correctly.   The screens warn you clearly that entering those amounts incorrectly can result in long delays for getting your refund.   

If you are getting the child tax credit then the PATH act means you cannot get your refund until end of February at the earliest -----so waiting a few days for that letter is not going to hold up your refund and may actually prevent you from making a mistake that could cost you months of delay.

[AliciaP1]

You and your spouse would have each gotten a letter and the letters split the payments to accurately reflect the credit given.  Each parent was entitled to 1/2 of each payment. 

So, if your deposits added to $1,500 in total then the letters split the funds and applied $750 to you and $750 to your spouse.  This is how you should enter the information in TurboTax Online.

For the specific steps to enter the info into TurboTax Online please see How do I enter my advance Child Tax Credit payments in TurboTax?

[zevi8]

Thanks Alicia but we have not received letters from the Irs. I am hoping they are forthcoming because I'd like to get my taxes done. 

[AliciaP1]

You can confirm your deposits on the IRS portal Child Tax Credit Update Portal.  Click the View Advance Payments button and login or create a login.

While the total deposit for Advance Child Tax Credit payments shows on the IRS portal under each taxpayer, the letters split the payments to accurately reflect the credit given as I said above.

[zevi8]

I know how much i got. 1 child $1500 . my confusion was what was I putting on each line . I assumed $750 on my line and $750 on my wife's line.

[KrisD15]

Yes,

the lRS will send you each, Husband and Wife, a Letter 6419 which splits the amount in half and each half is reported on each letter. 

The number of dependents the advance payments are based on is not split. 

This (splitting the amount) would only be an issue if the Taxpayers are filing separately or with different spouses. 

Additionally, it could cause a rounding error if half the payments resulted in a number ending in .5, but in your case that is irrelevant. (The paper copy of the 8812 has the taxpayer add the amounts together and then enter, TurboTax has each number entered separately and does the math. Since number are always rounded to the nearest dollar, it COULD cause a dollar difference)