Maybe you were paid half for two kids, which is equal to all the credit for one child so you are not getting any credit. It was all already paid.
Allow me to explain.
I am assuming that you claimed two dependents (children) on your 2020 Tax Year return, (which is the tax return we filed last year).
I am also assuming you received "Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments" last year.
Now the idea behind these payment was to give you about half of what the IRS figured you'd get when you file your 2021 Tax Year return (the one we are working on now). They figured these payments by how many dependents you claimed on the 2020 return , but the advance payments were not for 2020, they were an advance for 2021.
Now here we are filing our 2021 taxes and this is how we figure our credit, then we subtract what we received as advance payments to determine if we are still owed more credit, if the credit was all already paid, or even if we need to pay any of the advance payments back.
TurboTax will help figure this out by you entering the dependents you are claiming this year and the payments you already received.
You say you are claiming only one child, but not the same one as before. That doesn't really matter. The credit is based on the number of dependents and the advance payments were paying the credit for 2021.
The credit (and the advance payments) are based on the NUMBER of dependents you claim, not necessarily who you claim. (They have to be your dependent, but not necessarily the same ones as last year.)
So if you claimed Jim and Tom last year and only Kathy this year, you will get a credit for Kathy but you need to subtract anything that was paid by the IRS because they thought you were going to claim Jim and Tom.
The credit for Jim and Tom is not lost, it will be credited (paid) to the taxpayer that does claim those children. (if they are eligible and so on)
SO, if you received 50% for one dependent and 50% for a second and now are only claiming one, chances are the advance payments you already received is as much as the credit you are eligible for this year.
(of course this is just simplifying it, ages of the children and your income level could also factor in)
[Edited 01/24/2022 I 8:04 pm PST]
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
