Why dont i see a federal refund for my baby son?

[SteamTrain]

For 2018 taxes filed in 2019.

1) The child must be born in 2018 or an earlier year

2)  IF the child was born in 2018, you need to indicate the child was with you the entire year, even if born the last day of December 2018...its the entire year (since birth).

3) The child must have a valid SSN....if the child only has an ITIN, any credit is reduced.

4)  You or your spouse (if filing jointly), must have earned income from a job, or profit from self employment before any credits are allowed.

5) Credits are phased in at low incomes (usually must have more than $2500 of  "earned income"  for the child tax credits...and a phased out at higher incomes.

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For the Child tax credits read:

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/child-tax-credit/L9ZIjdlZz

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For the Earned Income credit read:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3299933

[mesquitebean]

Are you asking if the baby counted as a dependent?   Or are you asking about a child tax credit?    

When was the baby born?

Are you asking if the baby counted as a dependent, was the baby born in 2017?    In the interview, did you indicate correctly that the baby lived with you all year?  It is allowed to claim that for a newborn.

[fern883]

yes my son was born in may and lived with me all year until now. but i do not see a federal refund i always hear people get for there children.

[fern883]

it says hes counted as a dependent

[SweetieJean]

Did you have income from working in 2017?

[fern883]

i have not yet received my w2s yet so have not yet put them in.

[xmasbaby0]

You are not going to see any kind of refund unless you have income to enter.

[fern883]

so i have to wait for my w2s to come in and then i will see the the amount i get for my son?

[xmasbaby0]

Correct.

[fern883]

thank you so much i am a new mom so i dont know how this goes. so for people who have kids and dont have jobs they dont get that i think i always hear people say up to 3000 for each kid they have?

[mesquitebean]

This may not be the issue you are asking about, but back to the dependent situation for a second, just to confirm that you did indicate the whole year.   You said the baby was born in May and lived with you "all year until now."  So by that did you mean that you indicated in the program "the whole year", right?
  
Also see this FAQ about indicating the newborn baby lived with you "the whole year",  but the years are wrong.  Please ignore the mention of 2016 in the FAQ.  I will tell TurboTax to update the FAQ to 2017.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3650684-can-i-claim-a-newborn-baby">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questi...>

[xmasbaby0]

Unless you have income earned from WORKING you are not eligible for any of the child-related credits.  See below.

[xmasbaby0]

Your refund is not broken down by how much you "get" for each dependent.  Each dependent gives you a personal exemption of $4050, which lowers the amount of your income that  you are taxed on.  It is not a refund.

There are several child-related credits you *may* get if you have a dependent child.

You might be getting the Child Tax Credit--that is not a refund--it lowers the tax you owe, up to $1000 per child, but if you do not owe tax then you may not get the full amount of CTC.  In some cases, you could qualify for the "Additional Child Tax Credit" which is a refundable credit, and would increase your refund.  If you qualify for this credit, TurboTax calculates and automatically adds it to your refund.

You might be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you paid someone to take care of your child so you could work. This is not a refundable credit, so it will not be in your refund.  It can lower your taxable income.

You might qualify for Earned Income Credit, which is a refundable credit if you worked and earned income. The EIC is based on the amount you earned.  If you do qualify for EIC, TurboTax automatically calculates the amount and adds it to your refund.

Look at your tax return to see the child-related /dependent credits you received:

Child Tax Credit 1040A  line 35 1040 line 49

Additional Child Tax Credit   1040A  line 43 1040 line 67

Child & Dependent Care Credit  1040A line 31 1040 line 49

Earned Income Credit 1040A line 42a           1040 line 66a

The children you listed as your dependents will appear on line 6c

[SteamTrain]

@mesquitebean   @xmasbaby0 

Interesting....I answered this question yesterday as-if it was a new question for 2018 taxes......then all the previous Comments&Answers showed up this morning ......and I found it in the AXE showing it was from January of 2018 and for 2017 taxes.....sighhh, I keep promising myself to leave and come back next week or month when it's all done.