Advance child tax credit and letter 6419

[Kenwyoung]

We both received letter 6419 detailing the amount we were supposed to get, split between both of us. However after checking my online IRS account, the amount we were actually paid is far less than what is on Letter 6419.

What am i supposed to do, and what amount am i supposed to enter into my tax return?

Many thanks in advance

[fanfare]

you can refer to your own records to report the amount you truly got, if there is a difference in two IRS reports.

Expect delays in the processing of your return if you don't agree with the letter.

[fanfare]

You will need to assemble and retain proof of your claim since IRS will disagree with your numbers.

[Opus 17]

I suspect the IRS will rigidly adhere to what their computer says you received, and will reduce your refund by the amount they think they paid, even if you didn't receive it.

Are you missing specific payments, like a particular month?  Did you change bank accounts or change between bank account, check or debit card?

You may need to look at the procedures for tracing missing payments, rather than trying to claim the missing payment on your return.  See here for more.

https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/tas-tax-tip-did-you-have-an-advance-payment-of-the-child-t...

[xmasbaby0]

Use the amounts in  the letter----not the amounts you are seeing online.   Do the amounts in the letter agree with your own records of what you received between July and December?    If you enter anything that disagrees with the letter, you will need to be prepared for a delay in processing your return.   

[AmeliesUncle]

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@Kenwyoung wrote:

 However after checking my online IRS account, the amount we were actually paid is far less than what is on Letter 6419.

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Did you also check your spouse's online IRS account?

Have you compared those numbers to your actual bank deposits?

[Kenwyoung]

We received the checks and i checked they payments amounts against what is stated on my IRS.GOV account and they match the checks we received.

However the 6419 does NOT match they payments we have received, nor does it match what is written on my IRS.GOV account as payments that i received.

My IRS.GOV account states we received just over $500 for the 6 monthly payments, whereas the 6419 (which both me and my spouse received 1 each) states that we received a total of over $1,000. So the 6419 is out by $500 approximately. No other checks or payments were sent to either myself or spouse.

[Kenwyoung]

Yes, there are no payments in her account and she has received no payments

[Critter-3]

Use the tracing option since the IRS sent out some payments as pre paid debit cards for no good reason and you may not have gotten it in the mail  OR  you could have tossed it away since it looked like spam.  

And you said you checked your online IRS account ... did you also check hers ? 

[Opus 17]

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@Kenwyoung wrote:

We received the checks and i checked they payments amounts against what is stated on my IRS.GOV account and they match the checks we received.

However the 6419 does NOT match they payments we have received, nor does it match what is written on my IRS.GOV account as payments that i received.

My IRS.GOV account states we received just over $500 for the 6 monthly payments, whereas the 6419 (which both me and my spouse received 1 each) states that we received a total of over $1,000. So the 6419 is out by $500 approximately. No other checks or payments were sent to either myself or spouse.

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Remember that you and your spouse have separate IRS.gov accounts.  Did you check her account?  You may need to create it if it does not exist.

If the IRS thinks they sent $500 to you and $500 to your spouse, and you received $500 total, it sounds like you need to Trace the missing payments.  If you file as if you only received $500, the IRS will correct the tax return and reduce your refund to match their records.  

[Kenwyoung]

Yes, we checked both accounts and whats in the IRS account matches what we received in paper checks, so there 6419 is definitely incorrect.

[fanfare]

If your IRS account record is correct, you should have no problem.

I presume that is the number they will be matching against your form 1040.