If I claimed a $2000 child dependent tax CREDIT, why is my federal return less than $2000? (profanity removed)

[Spino · Accepted solution]

Well, aside from the fact that taxes and so forth are generally unpleasant and often confusing...

It turns out that only $1400 of the "child and dependent tax credit" is a refundable credit, not the whole $2000. So this could very well be one of the reasons your federal refund is less than you might expect if you thought the whole $2000 was a refundable tax credit. Some credits are credits toward taxes, but not refundable if you don't owe the taxes, kind of like a lot of coupons or something.

Weird, huh? Don't blame me, I didn't make this up!

[BobB7]

Also, if your income created some Federal Income tax in excess of your withholding then some of the $2000 goes to cover that.

[Spino]

Absolutely true. Tax CREDITS count against Tax DUE, and the final REFUND is the result of  all that added together.