Turbo Tax nt adding Adv. Child Tax Credit amount to Tax refund amount? I did not get any adv child tax payments in 2021.

[xmasbaby0]

If you did not receive any advance child tax credit payments why would you expect the software to add them?

The flow of information is confusing some users when they are looking at the child tax credit.   SOME people received advance monthly payments —— some did not.   The software STARTS OUT giving you the full amount when you enter your qualified child dependents.   Later when you tell the software that you received some advance payments, the “refund” on the “refund meter” is adjusted so it looks like you just lost some credit.   No, you did not lose it.   You just do not get the full amount again.   The software is reconciling the full amount with the amount you received in advance.   Look at line 28 for the amount of Child Tax Credit on Form 1040.  And….make sure you use letter 6419 from the IRS when you enter the advance child tax credit you received.    It is important to enter your advance CTC correctly to avoid delays in processing your return.

[rajeevgupta-leo]

Really appreciate your time to respond, and I am sorry for not making myself clear with my question in first place.

I was eligible for Advance Child Tax Credit payments in 2021 and I opted out which means I should be able to get Advance Child Tax credit payment of either $3000 or $3600 depending upon the age of the child when filing returns.

Currently, I am using Turbo Tax and filled all the information to get ready to file return for the year 2021, As, I filled the income information, refund meter on Turbo Tax portal shows X amount as refund, great until this far, proceeding further, Turbo Tax asked me about Advance Child Credit payment questionnaire, since I opted out and did not get any advance payments in year 2021, I filled in 0 amount and completed the section, it then showed me that I qualify for Child tax credit, showed me the correct amount I am entitled for but the refund meter continued to show the X refund amount and NOT the X + Child tax credit amount, and hence my initial question was that Turbo Tax is NOT adding the child tax credit amount to refund meter?

I hope it helps and explains the scenario well.

Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

[xmasbaby0]

How many children under age 6 are you claiming?   How many 6 or older?   What amount do you see on line 28?

[rajeevgupta-leo]

Two kids of age older than 6

one kid = 6 yrs <US citizen with SSN so qualifies for Advance Child Tax Credit $3000, Turbo Tax determines it correctly>

Second kid = 10 yrs = <he is a foreign born with ITIN so qualifies for only $500 other dependent credit, Turbo Tax determines it correctly>

As, I am filing online, it shows me the qualified amount of $3500 but then it does not add this on the refund meter. Refund meter continues to show only X refund amount, but as I mentioned earlier it should be X + $3500

Or another example if refund meter shows Y tax due amount, then turbo tax is not calculating correctly either, it continues to show Y amount but the refund meter should show $3500 - Y amount = $ actual refund amount after subtracting Y tax due amount from $3500 <advance child tax credit>

I tired it in both scenarios but refund meter is not considering child tax credit amount.

Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

[Critter-3]

@rajeevgupta-leo 

What you are not understanding is that the program GAVE you the full amount of the credit in the beginning when you entered the qualifying children in the MY INFO tab so the FULL CREDIT WAS being reflected in the refund shown.   When you were asked how much you got in advance the refund did not go up because it was already there ... that screen simply restated the fact that you were already qualified ... please LOOK at the form 8812 for the credit.  If you HAD gotten any of the credit in advance then the refund would have been REDUCED at that time to reflect the amount you already got.

First the Refund-O-Meter is only correct once all your income and expenses have been entered and the program is fully operational. With each entry of income or expenses the meter will continue to vary as the program recalculates the return with each step you take.  If this annoys you then turn off the meter until the end.   

Next ... the program interview flow is  poorly designed  and it  will give you a false refund total early in the interview.   The program gives you 100% of the CTC and the third stimulus credit once you have completed the MY INFO tab early in the interview  and  then much   later in the deductions & Credits tab  you are asked how much of these credits you got in advance and then the credits are adjusted for the advance payments which will show as a reduced refund amount or an increase in the balance due.  

Same thing for the EIC … the program gives you the credit in the refund posted BEFORE  you get to the EIC portion of the interview.  At that point it asks you a couple of questions that could possibly REMOVE the credit already reflected in the refund posted  which is also a point of confusion for many. 

One day the programmers may  get this changed to more timely reflect the section you are working on as you work on it and not way in advance.  Users are not happy when they see the refund being reduced without a good explanation.

[xmasbaby0]

Forget the refund meter---it does not mean anything until every last morsel of data has been entered.   Do you see an amount on line 28 of your Form 1040?    Do you see credit for other dependents on line 19?

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

[rajeevgupta-leo]

Yes, It has correct amounts on Line 19 and 28 respectively and after going through it, I now understand it as well. Thanks to both of you for guiding me through to it. Refund meter is showing me correct information as of now.