You are confusing the childcare credit and the child tax credit. Those are two different credits.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900643-what-is-the-child-and-dependent-care-credit
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit
CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT
One of the most common mistakes that messes up the childcare credit for people is listing all of the earned income under only one name on a joint return. Make very sure that your incomes are listed under each of your names. It’s pretty easy to check. Go to the Income section, and click “update” on Wages and Salary. That will take you to the W-2 Summary. Do you see income listed under both of your names?
A few other things—the childcare credit is not a refund. It can reduce your taxes owed. If you were self-employed, but showed a loss, you will not receive the credit.
The person receiving the care had to be 12 or under or qualified as mentally or physically disabled. To claim the childcare credit you need to be filing as Head of Household or Married Filing Jointly. (NOT married filing separately)
If your child was born in 2019 make sure you say the child lived with you all year. The credit is a percentage of your expenses based on your AGI (the higher the income, the lower the percentage) You must provide the Social Security number for each child you are claiming, and the Social Security number or Tax ID for each care provider. You can claim a maximum of $6000 in expenses for 2 or more dependents.
In the case of divorced or never-married parents—only the custodial parent can use the childcare credit.
You will see your childcare credit on line 18d of your Form 1040
If you are asking about the child tax credit:
There was lots of hype in the news about the new $2000 Child Tax Credit when the tax law changed for 2018 and beyond. Unfortunately, some people do not yet understand that it does not mean they will automatically receive $2000 per child just for filing a tax return.
Do not assume your refund will include $2000 per child for child tax credits. It does not work that way. The CTC is used first to reduce your tax liability to zero. After that, there is a refundable portion —up to $1400 — called the Additional Child Tax Credit that is calculated based on the amount of income you earned. You do not necessarily get the maximum amount. You get 15% of the amount of income earned above $2500--UP to the maximum amount possible.
If your child turned 17 in 2019, even on the last day of 2019, you do not get the child tax credit. There are no exceptions to the rule. You can still claim your child as a dependent.
Your child must have a Social Security number to get the CTC.
If your child was born in 2019 you need to say the child lived with you for the WHOLE year.
If your child lived with you for less than half the year you cannot get CTC.
If you did not earn at least $2500 you cannot receive the child tax credit. Beyond that amount the CTC you receive is affected by your tax liability and the amount you earned. You might not get the full $2000 of CTC.
The child tax credit is reduced by $50 for every $1000 of AGI over these limits:
Married filing jointly $400,000 (CTC disappears at $440,000)
Single, Head of Household, Married Filing Separately or qualifying widower $200,000 (CTC disappears at $240,000)
Look at your 2019 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received
PREVIEW 1040
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing
Child Tax Credit line 13a
Credit for Other Dependents line 13a
Earned Income Credit line 18a
Additional Child Tax Credit line 18b
Child and Dependent Care Credit line 18d
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
