Child Tax Credit advancement: Filing separately after filing jointly last year?

[MattHeadley]

How do I handle the Child Tax Credit advancement if I want to file separately for 2021 but filed married jointly in 2020? The 2 kid $3,000 direct deposit advancement all went to my separated spouse's account. I see from limited research that my name is attached to half of that, $1500. So when I run my simple return numbers, I go from a $450 return to owing like $1,000 because of that.

[DianeW777]

You must report the half of the advance that applies to you on your tax return.  If you are claiming the children then you may not have a balance due. It may be better to file jointly if you are not divorced as of December 31, 2021.

• IRS Letter 6419 - Reconciliation of Advance Child Tax Credit
• IRS CTC Update Portal

If that will not work out there is a possible Repayment Protection, and TurboTax factors that into your return if you qualify.  Here are the rules.

What is Repayment Protection?

Repayment protection is an income-based program that reduces the amount of excess advance Child Tax Credit payments you have to repay.

Full repayment protection equals $2,000, multiplied by the following:

• The number of qualifying children that the IRS took into account when estimating your advance Child Tax Credit payments, minus
• The number of qualifying children you’re claiming on your 2021 tax return.

To be eligible for full repayment protection, your adjusted gross income (AGI) for the 2021 tax year must be at or below the following:

• $60,000 if you are married and filing a joint return or if filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
• $50,000 if you are filing as head of household; and
• $40,000 if you are a single filer or you are married and filing a separate return. 

 You won’t qualify for any repayment protection if your modified AGI is at or above the amounts listed below based on the filing status on your 2021 tax return.

• $120,000 if you are married and filing a joint return or if filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
• $100,000 if you are filing as head of household; and
• $80,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return.

For information on the definition of modified AGI, see Topic C: Calculation of the 2021 Child Tax Credit

[MattHeadley]

Thanks for the help, there might be another issue with the software being half-baked:

Ok so when I changed the trial run with my filing status from married but separate to legally separated (which in NC come to find out IS legally true for me/us) the same thing basically happened, I owed $1000, but with the automatic checking function (where it checks the actual IRS forms) this time I was able to get past the entry where I put the amount of the child advancement attached to me according to the letter, $1500 and THEN it required a correction for the “number of qualified children” according to and in line 2 of the letter (sent out to each individual parent regardless of filing status and amount of children). I don’t recall a TurboTax facade question asking that before. BUT, after this correction it went back up to my original tax return of $450