IRS adjusted down my refund for incorrect child tax credit info from TurboTax calculations

[QAJedi]

So I get a letter from the IRS basically letting me know they are keeping HALF of my refund due to incorrect child tax credit info that had to have been calculated by TurboTax. I just went into my return and there is nothing I can see that is off. The exact language is: 

• We changed the amount claimed as child tax credit for other dependents on your tax return because you either didn't enter an amount or entered an incorrect amount based on the number of boxes you checked on page 1 of your return. (249D)
• We changed the amount claimed as Child Tax Credit and/or Additional Child Tax Credit on your tax return because there was an error on Schedule 8812, Additional Child Tax Credit. The error was in one of the following:
  • Computation of the credit on Schedule 8812
  • Transfer of the amount to your tax return. (628D)

How can the computation be wrong? Other people would have reported this if it was wrong, and there is no way the amount was transferred incorrectly when TT did the transfer.... I only have one kid and I have always filed the same way each year and never an issue. Is this an IRS mistake? It's impossible to get through to them right now with  everything going on. HELP! 🙂

[SusanY1]

This is a confusing memo because it indicates "child tax credit for other dependents".  Do you have any other dependents on your return such as a parent or another person that you claim? 

I think we would really like to look at the tax file with you- but perhaps next week when we're a little easier to get hold of as well.   

You can reach us here: Contact TurboTax.

[dinahl1983]

I had the same problem, i have gone over all info and get the same numbers and yet my refund went from 3402 dollars to 302 dollars. Turbo Tax did the computing so what is the erroe ?

[JamesG1]

The Child Tax Credit has two components:

• The computation of the Child Tax Credit, and
• The reporting of advance Child Tax Credit payments for the period of July through December of 2021.

What information did the IRS give you about the change in your refund?  Did they change the computation of the credit?  Or did they report a different advance Child Tax payments?  Or did they do both?  Please clarify.

TurboTax will compute the full amount of the Child Tax Credit if you enter a dependent in your tax return and the dependent qualifies as a qualifying child.

In January 2022, the IRS sent you Letter 6419 to provide the total amount of Advance Child Tax Credit payments that were disbursed to you during 2021.  You and your spouse will each receive your own letter with the total you each received.

The amount of Advance Child Tax Credit payments will be entered at the screen Tell us about any Advance Child Tax Credits.

TurboTax software will compare the credit, deduct the advance payments and post a Child Tax Credit on line 28 of the Federal 1040.

You may view the entry under Tax Tools / Tools / View Tax Summary / Preview my 1040.

See this TurboTax Help.

@dinahl1983

[Bobicus]

We have the same problem:

We changed the refundable Child Tax Credit amount claimed on your tax return because there was an error on Schedule 8812, Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents, in one of the following:

• The computation of the credit on Schedule 8812 was incorrect.
• The amount on Schedule 8812 was not transferred correctly to your tax return.
• You received advance Child Tax Credit payments but did not reconcile them or you reconciled them incorrectly

---

---

And:

We changed the amount claimed as Recovery Rebate Credit on your tax return. The error was in one or more of the following:

• The Social Security number of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent was missing or incomplete.
• The last name of one or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent does not match our records.
• One or more individuals claimed as a qualifying dependent exceeds the age limit.
• Your adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 if married filing jointly, $112,500 if head of household).
• The amount was computed incorrectly.

---

TurboTax gave no errors when we ran error check. Now I'm mired in IRS hell trying to get this fixed.

[AliciaP1]

It seems you may not have entered your Advance Child Tax Credit as @JamesG1 listed out above and you may not have entered your Recovery Rebate Credit information correctly in the Federal Review of your tax return.  

You can request a copy of the transcript of your tax return that the IRS has changed through the IRS website at Get Your Tax Record.

@Bobicus

[Bobicus]

Hi Alicia,

I checked and I entered what the IRS sent. I obtained my tax transcript and cannot tell what was changed.

[RobertB4444]

@Bobicus  The child tax credit was increased for 2021 to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children between 6 and 17.  

The IRS started sending this money out to families in July of last year - up to $300 a month for each child under 6 and $250 a month for each child between 6 and 17.  

In January you should have received Letter 6419 from the IRS.  This letter showed all the advance child tax credit payments that the IRS sent to you.  When you were doing your taxes for 2021 you were prompted to enter in the amount that you received already and it should have reduced the credit that you got on your return by that amount.  

So, if you had one child under six and you received all your payments last year the credit of $3,600 on your return would be reduced to $1,800.  If you didn't input all of the money that you received in advance then the IRS reduced your refund by that amount because you already got it.

The same is true of the recovery rebate credit.  That was the third stimulus payment that was received in March of 2021.  If you didn't receive this payment it should have been entered on your tax return.  If you have already received this payment then the IRS reduced your refund because you already got it.

If you did not receive any of these payments in advance and added them to your return because of that you need to make sure that no one could have received them on your behalf.  If you did receive these payments in advance then the IRS was correct in reducing your refund.

[Bobicus]

Hi Robert. I have no idea why you pasted that reply here. As I said earlier, I double checked the amounts the IRS had on our Letter 6419's and the third rebate recovery payment, and they all matched what I entered into TT and submitted.

After combing through things in TT, I notice that this box will not stay checked:

I check that box and hit continue, but when I go back to it, it's unchecked. Again, I got no errors when I ran error check, but knowing the IRS, if a box isn't checked that's supposed to be, they wont accept the return.

[ZoltanB45]

The disabled box would not have reduced your refund. The IRS adjusted your refund based on what was inputted and what they have on file. It doesn't sound like they asked you to amend the return if they refunded the adjusted amount. Call the IRS with the notice number and ask what documents they need from you, to verify your claims. 

[Bobicus]

Hi Zoltan,

So in the list of possible causes for this adjustment, the only one I can't verify is if the amount was reconciled or computed correctly - both of which I rely solely on TurboTax to get right. I entered what the IRS sent, and TT computed the values. We went from TT saying we're getting an almost $5k refund to the IRS saying we owe over $1k. That's a big discrepancy. Upon opening and updating TT, it still says I'm owed my refund. And when I come here because it's the only place I can find to get help with TT, I'm told "Well just call the IRS!"

Why would I bother paying the biggest tax system lobbying companies in the country if I can't trust it to calculate my taxes correctly? I've used TT since 2002, but I'm done. I'm was already leaning toward no longer supporting TT's crusade against simplifying the tax code, but this is the last straw.

[tocla42]

This was super useful!  I didn't get my letter, but I found in my bank statements this dollar amount per month.  (I thought it was some sort of COVID thing).  I was pretty upset that Turbo Tax did the math wrong.  Turbo Tax did the math RIGHT!  And the IRS found the missing information and only gave me the difference.  Thank you RobertB4444.  You earned your 5th 4 in my books!

[7Reedsrcamping]

I received the exact message, and have gone over the return several times.

Saying they adjusted my refund by over $6k

Help!!!

[xmasbaby0]

@7Reedsrcamping This thread is full of posts from multiple users.  It is impossible to tell what "exact message" you are referring to.   But it sounds like the IRS adjusted your 2021 refund by quite a lot----right?   A lot of people made mistakes on their 2021 returns.  Many of the mistakes made were incorrect answers about the recovery rebate credit or the advance child tax credit payments.   The IRS looked very carefully at amounts on lines 28 or 30 on your tax return, and if you made mistakes they reduced your refund.

The advance child tax credit payments were sent out between July and December 2021, and the  IRS sent letter 6419 to each parent who received those payments.  The amounts from those letters was supposed to be entered on your tax return, so that you would receive only the other "half" of the total amount for the child tax credit payment.   It went on line 28.

The IRS also sent out letter 6475 to each spouse who received the 3rd stimulus payment of $1400 per person, and that information was to be entered when you went through Federal Review.  If you answered incorrectly and said you did not receive the $1400 per person when you really did receive it, you put an amount on line 30 that the IRS would have taken notice of and removed from your refund.

When the IRS reduced your refund they sent you a letter to explain; but some of the letters were so generic they just confused everyone more.

if your refund was short by $1400 per person---it is likely to be a mix up regarding the 3rd EIP payment.    If you received the 3rd stimulus check of $1400 per person in 2021 then you got letter 6475 from the IRS about it.   You needed to enter the amount you received.   If you already received that money then line 30 on your Form 1040 should have been blank.

  If it is short by $1800 or  $1500 or  a multiple of that amount  ---   maybe a mixup regarding the advance child tax credit payments. If you received monthly child tax credit payments of $250 or $300 per month between July and December of 2021, then you got letter 6419 from the IRS, and you were required to enter the amount of the advance payments.   Only the remaining amount of the CTC should have been on line 28 of your Form 1040.

The IRS knows how much they sent to you for the 3rd stimulus check and they know how much they sent for advance child tax credit payments.   If you answered something incorrectly on your tax return then the IRS made a correction that resulted in a reduced refund for you. 

It might help you to check your online IRS account.

https://www.irs.gov/payments/your-online-account

https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-refunds/why-is-my-tax-refund-not-what-i-expected-49240/

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/questions-and-answers-about-the-third-round-economic-impact-payment-top...

If you need to trace a payment that the IRS says has been issued to you, mail or fax a completed IRS Form 3911, Taxpayer Statement Regarding Refund.