Schedule 8812

[wmlg41]

I think there is a bug in Turbotax. I have prepared three family returns today and every one of them identified and error after the Federal Review and opened the Schedule 8812 and instructed me to fill it our.  None of these returns have anything to do with children in any way. One of the returns I prepared was for my Deceased Brother but it still asked about Schedule 8812.  In each case, I had to go back and find the area discussion Abode and child credits and put in some filler information.  Putting in a 0 does not work.  Pretty frustrating as  you can see by the number of comments you have on this subject.  It is stressful enough to fill these things out without having to go look for a needle in a haystack to find out why this subject is even come up.  Fix it....   

Wlg.  

[xmasbaby0]

Everyone has to answer whether they received advance child tax credit payments.   If you did not receive any of those payments between July and December you need to answer that you did not receive any payments.

There are so many scenarios with those payments---like divorced/never married parents who have issues over who received the payments, who claimed the children, etc. --- the software has no way of knowing if any of that involves you---so you have to answer the questions about it. 

Please follow these steps to indicate you did not receive any advanced payments:

1. Click on the "Search" on the top and type "Child tax credit"
2. Click on “Jump to Child Tax Credit”
3. Continue through the questions until the "Tell us about any advance Child Tax Credit payments" screen and select "No".
4. Continue through the questions.

[wmlg41]

Go look under Deductions and Credits section.  Go down to  Chile and other Dependent Tax Credit.  Open it and click the block that says you didn't have and advances.   that will clear the error.  there is a problem with this software when it leads you to a subject you have no business  addressing.  first time I have ran into anything like this is the 20 years I have been using Turbotax..   

Wlg 

[wmlg41]

I understand what you just said, but.  If you do not go through the full scenario and answer all the questions, you completely skip this section.  so, when doing the final Federal Review and you note that this is checked.  Instead of just popping up the Schedule 8812 page and expect everyone to know what to do with it,  why not just direct us back to where that question is asked in the first place.  I spend over an hour trying to figure out how to get by this thing when you could have easily just told me that I had not answered this apparent all important question that the IRS has to have the answer to.  Think a little harder about the dilemma you are putting your customers in when you just pop up an IZRS Tax page that they have never seen before and have no ideas what to do with it.  Think Customer support first and don't leave us hanging out on a lamb when we are already working on one of the most distasteful functions we have to deal with each  year..    wlg.  

[Mike029]

I agree.  What you suggest would have made it easier for those of us that don't go through the entire process.  

I just reported on what it took for me to get rid of the Review Error.

[Critter-3]

Every year I do several fake returns to see what the program does and how it handles the new curve balls and I have to say that if the user simply follows the interview process as intended then everything works perfectly.   Anyone who employs a DIY program and doesn't follow the interview path has only themselves to blame.  They probably could make the correction easier to find and they may do so but since this is a one time issue don't count on it.  

[BMS]

I am also receiving this quandary. I do have two children but am claiming only one. I did receive the third stimulus in March, and accounted for it on the program. But don't understand how to answer this?

[DMarkM1]

There are two different sets of interview questions concerning new payments you may have received from the IRS/Government in 2021.  

First, Advanced Child Tax Credit payments.  You would have received those payments monthly between Jul-Dec for each child that was claimed on your 2020 tax return.  You should receive a letter 6419 that shows those total payments. 

In the "Deductions & Credits" tab you will find the "Child Tax Credit" topic (it may be under the "Your Family" section).  You will be asked if you received advanced child tax credit payments.  You will enter the total amount you received according to your letter 6419.  If filing a joint return you will also enter the amount from your spouse's letter 6419 as well. 

At that point your total child tax credit based on your 2021 tax return information is calculated by subtracting the amount you entered from your letter 6419 (and spouse's if joint return) and then adding any remaining child tax credit to your tax return.  That remaining child tax credit shows up on line 28 as a refundable credit.

The second payment that you need to account for is the third stimulus payment (1400 per person on your 2020 return). As part of the federal review after entering all your income and deductions, you will be asked if you received the third stimulus.  If you answer "yes" you will be asked what the amount was.  You should get or have gotten a letter 6475 showing that payment as well.  At this point your refund or tax owed will be adjusted by removing the amount of stimulus payment that you indicate you (and your spouse if joint return) already received.

Any remaining stimulus amount that you are eligible for will be on line 30 of your return as a Recovery Rebate Credit.

[gnubari]

I was having the same problem, and found help in the Help section.  I discovered the answer to this issue is to enter "0" in the column and it will let you file.

Hope this helps. 

[8812jArks17]

Where in Turbo TAx do I correct Line 28, Schedule 8812

[LoganathanB]

Enter it in line 14 f of schedule 8812 the aggregate amount of Advance Child Tax Credit received.

IRS would have sent letter /no 6419 indicating the amount of  Advance Child Tax Credit received by you in 2021.

Click on the link for more information

Schedule 8812

[jmeggers]

I'm having what seems like the same issue. I have no dependent children, never entered any information about child tax credits, etc., but when I run the Federal Review, it flags an error because it wants advance payment info entered on Form 8812. I'm on a Mac desktop and so far cannot find a way to remove the form. Something must be triggering TurboTax to think that form is required.

[xmasbaby0]

Everyone has to answer whether they received advance child tax credit payments.   If you did not receive any of those payments between July and December you need to answer that you did not receive any payments.

There are so many scenarios with those payments---like divorced/never married parents who have issues over who received the payments, who claimed the children, etc. --- the software has no way of knowing if any of that involves you---so you have to answer the questions about it. 

Please follow these steps to indicate you did not receive any advanced payments:

1. Click on the "Search" on the top and type "Child tax credit"
2. Click on “Jump to Child Tax Credit”
3. Continue through the questions until the "Tell us about any advance Child Tax Credit payments" screen and select "No".
4. Continue through the questions.

[Krissy72]

Wow!  That worked.   (Computer based, not online.)

I don't have deductions, so I never worked through that section.

[Krissy72]

I have seen this answer that everyone must complete that section, but why doesn't the TurboTax program tell us that?  I don't itemize so I skipped the entire Deductions & Credits section and ended up with the error.  A helpful TT person explained how to jump to the section and answer the questions and I was done, no more 8812.

At first, I looked at the 8812 form and wasn't comfortable entering a '0' since I didn't ever get the letter they referenced.  A "catch-22":  to move ahead, you have to enter a zero amount from a letter that you never received!