Married and filing jointly and have two kids going to college (18 and 20). Adding them as dependents or leaving them out is not making a difference in my taxes, why?

[Ashby · Accepted solution]

You no longer get exemptions for claiming dependents. Because of tax reform, exemptions were eliminated in favor of a higher standard deduction and increased child tax credit.

Your children are too old for the child tax credit, but should be eligible for the "other dependent credit". You could lose this if your income is over $400k or you have no tax liability (credit cannot be used to create a refund).

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/6971774