Why is my child tax credit cut in half?

[davidmullins95]

My child tax credit is half that of the normal tax credit and my income doesn't exceed any numbers that  would do so. I'm wondering what reasons could be behind my child tax credit being seemingly cut in half. 

[Vanessa]

What was your taxable liability on line 11

[davidmullins95]

Assuming I'm looking at the correct line 11, it simply shows a zero.

[Texas Roger]

Child tax credit is a nonrefundable credit meaning you must have a tax liability for it to offset in order to get it. If you have not tax liability on line 11, you have nothing for the credit to offset. You may be eligible for another refundable credit called the additional child tax credit if you had at least $2500 of earned income. That credit is on line 17b of form 1040. The additional child tax credit limit is $1400 per child and is 15% of your earned income that's more than $2500.

[davidmullins95]

What form is this line 11 on? I see nothing  about tax liability.

[Texas Roger]

Form 1040. It just says Tax but that is what tax liability means.

[davidmullins95]

Ya I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't qualify for the CTC. I've met every requirement I know about but it may be a bit late to worry about it at this point.

[Texas Roger]

The entries on form 1040 on the lines we've suggested you look at tell the whole story. You've already said the amount on line 11 was 0. If line 11 is 0, it simply means you didn't have enough taxable income to qualify for the credit because you owe no taxes. Since you had no tax for the child tax credit to offset, you can't get it. But you may have received additional child tax credit instead and that's on line 17a of form 1040.

[Vanessa · Accepted solution]

 Not everyone is eligible for the full Child Tax Credit or the full Additional Child Tax Credit. If you are seeing $0 or nothing on line 11, the credit your getting would be the Additional Child Tax Credit.

 Most all of the tax breaks and credits run on a bell curve, where it starts at the bottom, then the more kids you have (in relation to your income) the better the tax breaks are until it hits the peak and then the benefits decline dropping down the other side of the bell until there is no benefit at all for additional kids. 

 If your tax liability on line 11 would have been $2,000, then you would have had a Child Tax Credit of $2,000.  Since it is zero, you are not eligible for the child tax credit.  This is a non-refundable Credits and will only reduce your tax liability to zero. The Child Tax Credit is shown on line 12a of your 1040. 

The Additional Child Tax Credit is refundable if you qualify for it. The refundable portion is approximately 15% of your Earned income along with a few other calculations. If you did receive it, you will find it on line 17 of your 1040.