There are 6 possible reasons; you aren’t
getting the Child Tax credit (CTC):
1. You’ve entered something wrong.
In the personal Info section, for the dependent, you must select answers that
indicate that he/she is your dependent child. If the child was born during the
year, say he/she lived with you all year (note: TurboTax changed how this section
is done two years ago, you may need to go thru the interview again or even delete your dependent and start over). If the child was born
in 2016, you have to answer that he lived with you all year.
2.
Your child may be
too old (over 16). This comes as a big surprise to many parents the year their
child turns 17. A child over age 16 no
longer qualifies for the Child Tax credit (CTC). Although a child can still be a
student dependent through age 23, and
a qualifying child for EIC, the Child Tax Credit
expires the year they turn 17 and you
no longer get the $1000 CTC.
3. Your income is too high. The
Child Tax Credit (CTC) is phased out at higher incomes starting at $110,000 for
joint filers ($75K single). You lose $50 for each $1000 (rounding up) your income
is over that threshold.
4. Your income is too low. The child tax credit (CTC) is also limited to your tax liability.
The CTC is a non-refundable credit and can only reduce your income tax to 0, It
can not help you beyond eliminating your tax liability. But, if you have more
than $3000 of earned income, some or all of it is usually given back to you
thru the "Additional Child tax credit". That is, part of the CTC may
be on line 43 of form 1040A instead of
line 35 (lines 67 & 52 of form 1040). In the on-line
version of TT, the
main Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ can be seen through Tools, View Tax
Summary, Preview My 1040 or go to Print
Center and then choose to Preview. The
ACTC is calculated on form 8812; that form is not viewable in the online
version of TT until you have paid for your return. But, the ACTC is basically
15% of your earned income over $3000.
5. You are the custodial parent and the
non-custodial parent is claiming the dependent this year. The CTC goes with
the dependency, even though the custodial parent still gets the Earned Income Credit, Dependent care credit and
Head of Household.
6. Another possibility is that part of your
tax due is not regular income tax, but is self-employment, early distribution
penalty or another type of additional tax, for which the CTC cannot be used.
To get a 'second opinion' on-line direct from
IRS, try https://www.irs.gov/uac/is-my-child-a-qualifying-child-for-the-child-tax-credit
