I added my W2, it said my refund was around $7k. Then I added my second W2 and it lowered my refund to $3k, despite earning the whole $4k child tax credit. Why?

Sorry....it does not work that way.  Your refund is not "per W-2"----your refund is based on the total amount of your income and the total amount of tax you had withheld.

 

WHY DID MY REFUND GO DOWN WHEN I ADDED ANOTHER W-2?

You started off with your first W-2 and your refund looked high?  Then you added another W-2 and it stopped looking so good? That is normal.  When you added more income, your tax liability increased, so you saw your refund decrease.  The program began by giving you your standard deduction—- which lowered your taxable income. So you are not being taxed on as much of the income on that first W-2.  Then you added taxable income--so the refund went down. Your refund (or tax due) is based on the total of your income, not “per W-2.”  Wait until you have entered ALL of your income and credit/deduction information.  You can't really tell anything until it is all entered.  That “refund monitor” does not mean anything until everything has been entered.

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2273878-why-did-my-refund-drop-when-i-entered-another-w-2

And....the child tax credit is not a $4000 refund.  Only some of the CTC is refundable.

 

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2022 return are very different.  For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work.   That is NOT the way it will work for your 2022 tax return.  The “old” rules are back.   The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1500.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1500.  If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2022, you do not get the CTC.  But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

 

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-for-other-dependents

 

 

And for the Earned Income Credit—-the rules are back to the “old” rules—

Those under 25 and over 65 without children are not eligible as they were uniquely in 2021.   And you cannot use your income from any earlier tax year to get the EIC for a 2022 return.  There is no “lookback” for 2022.  EIC for 2022 will be based on the income you earned by working in 2022.

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899157-what-are-the-qualifications-for-the-earned-income-credit-eic-or-eitc

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

 

 

 

Look at your 2022 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 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28