When I entered my advance child tax credit payments, my federal taxes due increased by roughly the amount I entered. What gives?

[bodie0158]

I received advance credits for five qualifying children in 2021 totaling a little over $6000. When I entered those advance credits in my return, my federal tax due went up dramatically. From what I could see, I should have had around $6000 of credit left to recover on my return, which should have LOWERED my tax due. What am I missing?

[bodie0158]

I think I just found my answer from a reply in another thread. It looks like TurboTax was giving me the full child tax credit until I entered the advance payments. When I did that, the credit was reduced to the just the remaining amount, which increased the taxes I owe.

It's a good thing my wife held on to those payments, because I'm going to need them to pay my taxes!

[AmyC · Accepted solution]

The meter assumes you got nothing, so when you entered what you received, the meter changed. What you need to look at is your actual tax return. Make sure numbers are where they belong and correct.

To view your return, 

If you are using the online version:

1. go to Tax Tools,
2. then select Tools,
3. select View Tax Summary,
4. on the left side, select Preview My 1040.

In the desktop program, switch to forms mode.