Why am I getting only $500 per child for the \"Other Dependent\" tax credit instead of the $2000 per child for the actual \"Child\" tax credit?

[jawenner]

Both my children appear to meet the Child Tax Credit criteria listed by TT: US Citizen, Under 17, did not support themselves, has SSN, lived with me all year.

[DoninGA]

When entering their Social Security numbers, did you check the box "Not valid for employment"?  If you did, that would prevent the child tax credit.  You will need to uncheck that box.

[jawenner]

That is exactly what happened. I checked that box in error, so now it has gone back to normal. Thank you!

[Beccashortness]

DoninGA you are AWESOME. I’ve been trying to figure out what I did wrong for over 24 hours. We always get $2,000 per child. Just by clicking those boxes, caused it to change to $500 per child. We would’ve screwed ourselves out of $3,000! You’re a life saver! Thank you so much!

[Heathermh211]

Do you know if there is a way to go back to see if I have checked that box in the years prior? I happen to notice it and would have had no idea if I wouldn’t have found this. 

[MindyB]

Yes.  If you saved your returns as pdfs, you can open them and scroll to Form 8812.  Check to see that line 5 matches what you expected $2,000 times your qualifying children.  

If you do not have the pdfs, you can get them in TurboTax online.

Here's how:

1. Log in to TurboTax

2. Click Your tax returns & documents

3.  Pick year you want to check, and then Download/print 

If you cannot access your return in either of those ways, you can get a transcript from the IRS which gives you the tax data from your past returns. You can obtain a transcript for free from the IRS's website: Get your tax records and transcripts

See: What is an IRS Tax Transcript and How Do I Request One? for more information.

[morganbrown]

If you’ve already completed that portion, how do you go back and uncheck the box? I can’t seem to get back to it.

[MayaD]

To make the changes:

1. Revisit the Personal Info section
2. Click Edit next to your child's name 
3. Continue until you get to the screen Let's Tie Up One More Thing.
4. On that screen your can uncheck the box under the SSN. 

[Dserrano2]

If I already e-filed my taxes for 2024 and I made this mistake, will I have to amend it to fix the dependent mistake. 

[JohnB5677]

Yes you probably will, but first wait until your original return is completely processed.

• You will have to use the same TurboTax account that you used for the original tax return.
• Once you begin your amendment, you'll see your original return.
  • The refund calculator will start new at $0 and only reflect the changes in the refund or tax due
  • Only make changes to the areas of your return that need amending.
• You have three years from the date you filed your return or two years after you paid the tax due (whichever is later) to file an amendment

Sign in to TurboTax

1. On the home screen, scroll down to Your tax returns & documents and
2. select the year you want to amend
3. Select Amend (change) return, then
4. Amend using TurboTax Online
5. If you're told to amend your return via TurboTax Desktop, follow the steps for TurboTax CD/Download below instead.
6. On the screen OK, let's get a kickstart on your amended return, select the reason(s) you're amending and Continue.
7. When you reach Here's the info for your amended federal return, select Start next to the info you need to change.
8. Continue through the screens, make the changes you need to make, and carefully answer the remaining questions to finish amending your return.

Also see:

How do I amend my federal tax return for a prior year?

How to File an Amended Tax Return with the IRS

@Dserrano2 

[3dbobby]

Oh wow.  Is that checkbox something new this year?  Because I was able to get the $2000 per child last year and  I didn't touch that check box this year.  It was checked by default.

Intuit should definitely look into that and change that to uncheck by default because I have never had this problem with Turbo Tax for several years until filing this year.

It was driving me nuts with the same issue this year with it all of a sudden being $500 per child when I used to get $2000 each.
At first, I thought it had something to do with our income (AGI) which lowered from $90k to $50k last year due to unemployment for part of the year.  

[KeshaH]

You should not have the checkbox checked saying they aren't eligible for employment. Uncheck that box and your credit should go back up to $2,000 per child.

@3dbobby