Why am I not getting the child tax credit?

[DoninGA]

Did you enter any earned income from work?  Is the dependent child under the age of 17?

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

 There are 7 possible reasons; you aren’t getting the Child Tax credit (CTC). It’s usually #4:

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 with you for 6 months and 1 day, you need to mark that the child was with you 7 months. The CTC is not an automatic $2000, per child. It is income dependent. If you haven't entered your income yet, the CTC will not show.
2. Your child may be  too old (over 16). You can still claim your child, as a dependent. What you can't claim is the Child tax credit. 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 $2000 CTC. Instead you will get the non-refundable (up to) $500 Other Dependent Credit.
3. Your income is too high. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is phased out at higher incomes starting at $400,000 for joint filers  ($200K single). You lose $50 for each $1000 (rounding up) your income is over that threshold.   Previously it was $75,000 for single, head of household, and qualifying widow or widower filers; and $110,000 for joint filers.
4. Your income is too low.  The child tax credit  (CTC) is 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 $2500 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 28 of form 1040 (2021- 2024) instead of line 19. The  ACTC is calculated on form 8812 and  is basically 15% of your earned income over $2500. The ACTC is a maximum of $1700 (2024) ($1600 for 2023, $1500 for 2022) per child, not $2000.
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 tax (FICA), early distribution penalty or another type of additional tax, for which the CTC cannot be used.
7. During covid (2021), the child tax credit was expanded and easier to get. That was temporary and those relaxed benefit rules are no longer available.

[adonahoe]

When I do my taxes online in Turbotax, I get the child tax credit but when I do them from the downloaded copy of turbotax on my computer, it says I don't qualify but doesn't give me a reason as to why.  What's going on here? I think there is a glitch in the downloaded version, it updated today so I don't get it.

[BillM223]

adonahoe

It is highly unlikely that the two versions of TurboTax are working differently. It is more likely that your input is different, as subtle as that difference may be.

Have you reviewed Hal_Al's list of reasons why you don't get the Child Tax Credit, applied to each version of TurboTax?

@adonahoe 

[adonahoe]

thank you for your reply, but my inputs are the same, I triple checked them and I uploaded from a pdf my w2 information.

[BillM223]

Did you double check the W-2 after you uploaded it? Since TurboTax does not create the original W-2 but they are created by third parties, sometimes the upload fails. A subtle change on your W-2 could make a lot of difference.

OK, on the Online version, can you see your forms (i.e., have you paid for it)? If so, you should be able to see form 8812 where the CTC is calculated. Now take that 8812 and compare it to your CD/download (desktop) version of TurboTax and mentally fill in the form from the desktop return, and see where it would differ.

If by some chance there already is a form 8812 on the desktop version, this will make your job easier. Unfortunately, since we in the Community cannot see your private tax data, we are working blind.