Child tax credit

[Vanessa S]

I did not have any income in 2021, but received the child tax credit. Do I need to file taxes?

[xmasbaby0]

Yes.    If you received the advance monthly child tax credit payments you are required to file.  You will receive a letter 6419 that must be entered.  And you may be able to get the second half of the CTC on that return.

Federal>Deductions and Credits>You and Your Family>Child Tax Credit

The IRS is sending out letter 6419 to you.  It will show the amount of advance child tax credit that you received during 2021.  Enter the information from that letter carefully.   The remaining amount of CTC that you can receive will show up on line 28 of your 2021 Form 1040.

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

NOTE:   The CTC is indeed a “credit” that can be applied toward any tax liability that you would otherwise have to pay as “tax due”  to the IRS.

And…..Ignore that “refund monitor.”  The software STARTS OFF by giving you the full amount of CTC.   When you enter the amounts from your letter, the software reconciles the amount you received with the amount you can still get IF you are eligible to get the other half.     You are NOT losing any of the credit; you are not being taxed on the credit.  Don’t get confused by the reconciled amount.   You got some of it already—-now you get the rest.

 If you received the advance payment and are NOT eligible to get the other half, then it will not show up on line 28.  (Such as in some cases where the wrong parent got the advance payments, etc.)

That “refund monitor” should not be taken seriously until every last morsel of your data has been entered.

[MinhT1]

Yes, you'll need to file a tax return to receive the balance of your child tax credit.

The IRS has issued guidance for electronically filing $0 dollar returns.

In addition to all other information required to be entered on Form 1040, a zero AGI filer must enter the following:

• $1 as taxable interest on line 2b;
• $1 as total income on line 9; and
• $1 as AGI on line 11

[Vanessa S]

Can I claim my son’s childcare expenses if I file a zero return in the scenario above? 

[RobertB4444]

You can but bear in mind that the Child and Dependent Care Credit is a Non-Refundable credit.  That means that it can reduce your tax bill to zero but no further.  

If you have no tax bill then entering the expenses will not result in a bigger refund.

[xmasbaby0]

@Vanessa S You cannot get the childcare credit if you did not have income from working.   The childcare credit is for parents who paid someone to take care of a child while they worked.