I want to file four of my kids on my takes will I get the tax credit plus the earned income credit for all four

[xmasbaby0]

You can only get earned income credit for three children even if you have more than three. 

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

 You may get the child tax credit for more than three children.   

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2022 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 2022 tax return.  The “old” rules are back.   The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1500.   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 $1500.  If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2022, 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://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-f...

[NCperson]

@iyounnao - a little more detail on the child tax credit.....

here is how it works

1) the Child Tax Credit is the lessor of  $2000 per child or the amount on Line 18 of Form 1040. 

PLUS 

2) the Additional Child Tax Credit is the lessor of: 

a) $1500 per child

b) 15% of your earned income over $2500

c) $2000 per child less what was calculated in #1 above.

Turbo Tax will figure all this out - the critical point is item b) - you have to have income to get the credit - in 2021 that wasn't necessary. 

So while the maximum credit is $2,000 per child, the actual credit is dependent on your income. 

you can see how much the earned income credit by reviewing the table beginning on page 46: 

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

again, Turbo Tax will figure this out.  

[Hal_Al]

Another way of saying what's already been said:

The child tax credit  (CTC) is  limited to your tax liability. The CTC is a non-refundable credit and can only reduce your income tax to 0, It can not help you beyond eliminating your tax liability. But, if you have more than $2500 of earned income, some or all of it is usually given back to you thru the "Additional Child tax credit". That is, part of the CTC may be on line 28 of form 1040 (2021 & 2022) instead of line 19. The  ACTC is calculated on form 8812 and  is basically 15% of your earned income over $2500. The ACTC is a maximum of $1500 per child (not $2000).

[Critter-3]

@iyounnao 

You have to have Qualifying Dependents to get the credits on a TAX return and if the dependents are qualifying dependents of more than one person in the household you should really discuss where the kids do the most good overall on both returns.  Cooperation for the common good is key. 

Whom can I claim as a dependent?

You can only claim a dependent who satisfies the IRS’s guidelines for qualification. This section will go into those tests and explain who qualifies and who doesn’t.

But this is only the first step. After determining whom you can claim as a dependent, another series of tests must be applied to determine what credits and deductions you’re eligible for because of the dependent.

Claiming a qualifying child as a dependent

There are potentially higher tax credits for claiming a dependent child than there are for claiming other types of dependents, such as an elderly parent.

The dependent child must satisfy the IRS’s following tests:

• Relationship: They were “your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.”
• Age: They were “under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly)”; or “under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly)”; or “any age if permanently and totally disabled.”
• Residence: They “must have lived with you for more than half of the year,” with exceptions for temporary absences (including kidnapping), children of parents who live separately, or children who were born or died during the year.
• Support: You must have provided more than half of the child’s support during the year.
• Child’s filing status: If the child earned any income that year, he or she has to file tax return. You can’t claim a child as a dependent if he or she is married and files a joint return unless they’re claiming a tax refund.

Claiming a qualifying relative as a dependent

Qualifying dependent relatives include anyone who satisfies a separate set of guidelines from the IRS.

Note that the key difference between this type of dependent and the qualifying child dependent is that this dependent may not have to have lived with you most of the year. For example, a child can be a qualifying relative to you, even if they’re not a qualifying child, if he or she lives apart from you.

The IRS’s guidelines for qualification are as follows:

• Relationship: Neither you nor anyone else is claiming him or her as a qualifying child dependent.
• Income: They earned a gross income of less than $4,300, for tax year 2021, which you'll report on your 2022 tax returns. (For tax year 2022, the dependent income limit to qualify will increase to $4,400.) There are some exceptions for dependents who have a disability.
• Support: You must have provided more than half of their support during the year, unless you have a multiple-support agreement for the dependent with another person, or the dependent is a child of divorced or separated parents, or is a victim of kidnapping.
• Filing status: If he or she is married and files jointly, you can’t claim him or her as a dependent.
• Legality: Your relationship to the dependent doesn’t violate local law.

Additionally, the dependent must have lived with you for the entire year (with some exceptions) unless he or she falls into one of the following categories, which are considered “relatives who don’t have to live with you” while receiving your support:

• Your child, stepchild, foster child, or grandchild, including adopted children;
• Your sibling, including half siblings and stepsiblings;
• Your parent, including step parents but not foster parents;
• You grandparent or other “direct ancestor” (like a great-grandparent);
• Your niece or nephew, including those of your half siblings;
• Your aunt or uncle;
• Your in-laws.

Head-of-household status

Taxpayers who are eligible to file as head of household often pay lower taxes. They receive lower marginal tax rates than people with single-filer status, their non-head-of-household equivalent.

Heads of household also receive a higher standard deduction. The standard deduction is the minimum amount of income you can’t be taxed on — the higher the standard deduction, the less taxes you’ll owe. As of 2021, individuals have a $12,550 standard deduction, while heads of household have an $18,880 standard deduction.

To qualify for head-of-household status, you need to be unmarried (including legal separation) and pay at least 51% of the cost of household upkeep. In addition, a qualifying person must have lived with you for at least 183 days of the year, with exceptions for temporary absences (like school) and dependent parents, who don’t have to live with you.

Qualifying persons must be either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative as described earlier in this section. But if they don’t satisfy the following tests, then you can’t claim them as a qualifying person for the purpose of filing as head of household.

• The person is a qualifying child and single.
• The person is a qualifying child and married, but you can claim them as a dependent.
• The person is your mother or father and considered a qualifying relative, and can be claimed as your dependent.
• The person is a qualifying relative but not your mother or father and can be claimed as your dependent (but not if a multiple-support agreement is in place for this person). This person must be one of the relatives that doesn’t necessarily have to live with you, as defined above, but did live with you for at least half the year.

Can I claim my boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent?

You can't claim a spouse as a dependent but in many cases, you can claim your partner as a dependent if they live with you for the entire year, they earned less than $4,300 that year, and you provided at least half of their financial support. This is an advantageous scenario when one partner works while the other goes to school, or if one partner is unemployed.

Basically, your boyfriend or girlfriend does count as a qualifying relative, and if you claim him or her then you’re eligible for certain deductions and credits just like if he or she were legally related to you.

However, you can’t claim your girlfriend or boyfriend as a qualifying person for the purpose of filing as head of household. That’s because he or she doesn’t meet the “relatives who don’t have to live with you” test defined above, which applies only to people related to you by blood, marriage, or law.