My stimulus check is wrong. What now?

[NCperson]

@wilderint - only the children under the age of 17 count.  (and I assume they all have Social security numbers and they were on your joint return)

there are press reports that there have been errors related to dependents.

it will get corrected, it's the timing that I suspect you won't like: 

here is the worst case scenario:

The stimulus payments are really based on your 2020 tax return (income, dependents, etc).

The IRS is using either 2018 or 2019 – whatever is available  - to ESTIMATE that payment

When you file next year there will be a “settle up” section on the tax return.  If you are due more stimulus, you will receive it through the 2020 tax filing. If you received too much, by law, you are not required to return it

So technically if one of your children is 17 on December 31, 2020 it is unlikely they are eligible for the stimulus.   But when you do your "settlement" if you received too much money, you won't be required to return it.  Likewise if you had a child in 2020 and obviously that wasn't on your 2019 tax return, you'll get the $500 stimulus payment on the 2020 tax return next year. 

hope that helps 

[ME_07]

Double check your 2018 and 2019 returns.  As someone had stated earlier in this thread, the wording & methodology TurboTax used to ask questions about dependents may be poor.  If you have more than 1 dependent under the age of 17 who lived with you, check your returns to make sure that the "Child Tax Credit" boxes are checked for the other dependents (assuming they meet all other criteria).  The question posed by TurboTax was focused around how many months the child lived with you, so if you had a baby in December 2018 and selected 1 month then the software determined that they did not qualify for the Child Tax Credit where in fact they do.  It appears the stimulus payments are going off of the same criteria thus they are using it to determine which dependents qualify for the $500.

None of this is advice but if you had a dependent who should have qualified for the Child Tax Credit, you can file a amended return.  If you do, please make sure you double verify the information given to you as TT does not auto fill the dependent section on the 1040-X form.

[mikemelaniehall]

@NCperson honestly I have no clue why my daughter who is 11 now has had the "other" checked instead of "child credit" since 2016. I am now wondering if I accidently put the wrong year for her birthday. Yes I've been using Turbo Tax to file our taxes for many years. 

[BenT9]

She must be younger than 17 for you to get the check.

[Critter]

IF YOU HAD A CHILD BORN DURING THE YEAR AND YOU DID NOT CHOOSE THE ALL YEAR OPTION THEN YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE THE ERROR BY NOT READING THE SCREEN ... IT TOLD YOU WHAT TO DO ...NOT SURE HOW MUCH CLEARER THEY COULD HAVE MADE IT ... LOOK FOR YOURSELF  ... EVERY YEAR LOOKS THE EXACT SAME WAY ....

[Nmoore020]

Why do TurboTax mark my five-year-old son that as my dependent for other tax credits instead of child tax credit?! That’s why a lot of TurboTax filers aren’t getting their $500 tax credits. And now we have to wait until the next year to file our taxes to get the credit, that’s ridiculous

[NCperson]

@Nmoore020 - suggest going back and checking all your inputs CLOSELY.   TT would check that box based on your inputs. 

it there a unique family situation that would cause your son to be marked as 'other dependent'? it could be correct

[Critter]

I am baffled that someone with a child under the age of 17 would not notice the credit they got was only $500 and not $2000 ... how did they not question this back then ?

Now if you do believe this was a program error then you can put in for an accuracy guarantee claim :

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2566201-what-is-the-turbotax-100-accurate-calculation-guarantee

[CharlesShep2020]

She is 17 and I've been cliaming her for the last 2years.

[NCperson]

how old was she on Dec 31, 2019?  if she was 17 (meaning she was born in 2002) , then the return was correctly marked "other dependent" with the up to $500 tax credit for other dependents. 

[danieleholland]

following - same thing happened to me. 

[brijonesy]

My stimulus amount is also wrong. I received $1200 but I have a dependent so it should have been $1700. 

[brijonesy]

My son is 10 years old. My annual income is only 43000

[NCperson]

there are press reports that dependents weren't always picked up by the IRS

it'll work itself out, and this is your worst case scenario: 

• The stimulus payments are really based on your 2020 tax return (income, dependents, etc).
• The IRS is using either 2018 or 2019 – whatever is available  - to ESTIMATE that payment
• When you file next year there will be a “settle up” section on the tax return. 
• If you are due more stimulus (and this would include where you simply never received it), you will receive it through the 2020 tax filing.
• If you received too much, by law, you are not required to return it

[Erinms614]

Sane here we got 2100 instead of 2400 and did not get anything for our kids ages 4 and 7?