Not claiming a dependent

[AKPuddleSplasher]

We noticed that our tax refund is significantly higher when we do not claim our children (under 18).  Do we have to claim our dependents or can we remove them if it does not benefit our tax refund? They are school age, do not earn an income.

[xmasbaby0]

That makes no sense.   If you have school age children under the age of 17, you should be getting the child tax credit for them.   What are you seeing that is making you think your refund is higher if you do not claim them?

Are you perhaps seeing a number with the words "TAX DUE" that is higher if you do not claim them?   Tax due means money you owe and have to pay.    

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 2024 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 2024?  If not,  you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

  The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700.   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 $1700 per child. If the amount you earned was too low, you will not get the full $1700.

 If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2024, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/child-tax-credit/L2lNhfGDl_US_e...

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—-

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-ea...

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

Look at your 2024 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-retur...

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

[VolvoGirl]

I can’t think of any reason why your refund would be more not claiming them.   Are you filing a Joint return?  Did you claim them last year 2023?   I would compare it with 2023 line by line.  Maybe you will spot something you left out or entered wrong.  

[DoninGA]

Then you are entering something wrong if you remove the children as dependents results in a higher tax refund.

Claiming a child under the age of 17 on your tax return and you have earned income of at least $2,000 makes you eligible for the $2,000 Child Tax Credit for each child being claimed under age 17.

[AKPuddleSplasher]

We were surprised to see how low our refund was so we went to clear out our deductions and redo them (to make sure we did them correctly) and as we removed our kids, our tax refund went UP roughly $1500 for each kid. This was both on Turbo Tax and H&R Block. 

[AKPuddleSplasher]

We are baffled as well. All we have is a W2, simple home mortgage for 12 years and the 2 dependents.

 Do we have to add our kids on our taxes return if they don’t make money and they’re under 18?  We input this on both Turbo Tax and H&R Block. 

[AKPuddleSplasher]

Thank you for this detailed response. We will scrap this first attempt at our taxes and redo, making sure to note what you mentioned. 

[xmasbaby0]

You are entering something incorrectly.   Claiming children does not lower your refund.   

[VolvoGirl]

Are you sure it wasn’t changing a small refund into a tax due?   Oh, you need to print out the return with the children , then take them off and print.  Compare each line and see what exactly changed.  Let us know what lines are different.  A refund is on line 35a and a tax due on line 37.

[AKPuddleSplasher]

Thank you everyone for your responses.  We are going to scrap the taxes and start over.