child or dependent box

[bmbennett03]

when i filed my taxes it said to check the box for other dependent and it did $500  the box should have been for child credit $2000  what can i do to fix this?

[ColeenD3]

If your child qualifies as a Qualifying Child, double check your answers to see what you might have answered wrong.

Qualifying Child

Relationship — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of one of these.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

Age — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

[Hal_Al]

You don't check a box for the Child Tax Credit. If you qualify, TurboTax (TT) automatically gives it to you*. 

If you think TT missed it, go thru the interview again at:

Federal Taxes Tab (Personal for H&B version)

Deductions & Credits

-Scroll down to:

-You and your family

    --Child Tax credit

*The child tax credit is not always $2000. 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 18b of form 1040 (2019 version) instead of line 13a (lines 17 and 12 in 2018).   The  ACTC is calculated on form 8812 and  is basically 15% of your earned income over $2500. The ACTC is a maximum of $1400 per child (not $2000).