dependent and credits

[golfbeach]

By our divorce settlement I claim my son this year.  Two questions:  When turbo tax asks how many months he lived with me do I enter 12 since I have an agreement that I claim him this year.  Second, I did not receive any advance child tax credits for 2021, don't know if my ex did.  Should I claim those credits now on my return?

[MaryK4]

No, you must enter the number of months that the child actually lived with you.  You will still be able to claim the Child Tax Credit and since you did not receive the advance, you will indicate that you did not receive any (zero) and you will get the entire credit (regardless of whether the other parent received the advances or not).

[golfbeach]

when I enter six months or less it takes half the credit away, my ex is not claiming any credit and i am entitled to full dependency.  Is this a glitch inthe program, seems tome I should get full credit. your thoughts, thanks

[MaryK4]

On the personal information summary ,edit your child's information:

• Scroll down and specify the number of months the child lived with you, enter 6 months
• Answer yes on the question "Do you have an agreement with the child's other parent about who can claim him?"..
• Answer no on the question "Is the other parent claiming the child per legal agreement?

That will qualify your son as dependent.  You then must go to the Child Tax Credit section in Deductions and Credits to and go through the questions to qualify for the credit. 

@golfbeach

[Hal_Al]

What you're seeing may be it taking away the Earned Income Credit (EIC), not half the child tax credit. Although the non custodial parent can get the child tax credit, in the year he claims the child, he can not claim the  EIC.  You are not entitled to "full dependency". 

There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the dependency to him.

[golfbeach]

I think I got it now, got the $3000 child credit, but also got $133 EIC.  If this is not allowed any idea what is causing turbo tax to give it to me?

[Hal_Al]

If your income is low enough, you will still get some EIC even if you can not count your child for EIC.  $133 sounds like a non child amount.  Compare your earned  income to the EIC table

 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf Scroll down past the tax tables to get to the EIC table.