schedule 8812

[Towanda53]

Line 5 on schedule 8812 is not correctly calculating the credit.  Children under 6 are supposed to be 3,600.00 not 3,000.00.

I have an eight and five year old and it is calculating only 6,000.00 when it should be 6,600.00

[MarilynG1]

Yes, $3600 and $3000 would be the correct amount of Child Tax Credit for your children. When I replicated your scenario, Form 8812 had the correct amount, and this is not a known TurboTax issue.  Since we can't see your return in this forum, does this apply to you?

"If you are eligible for the child tax credit but you are not able to claim the full amount of the credit because it is more than your tax liability after certain other credits, you may be eligible for the additional child tax credit. The additional child tax credit is a refundable credit which means you will receive it as a refund even if you do not owe taxes."

Are there any amounts shown on your Form 8812 in Part II, Additional Child Tax Credit? Did you receive any Advance Payments of the CTC?

After verifying that the birthdates for your children are correct in the MY INFO section (and they lived with you all year), you could go through the Child Tax Credit interview from beginning to end again to re-check your entries.

You could also delete Form 8812, go back through the CTC section to regenerate it and check the amounts. 

Please let us know if you're not able to resolve your issue and we will try to help you further.

Click this link for more info on Reconciling Your Child Tax Credit.

[Towanda53]

I'm using the desktop premier. 

I did all that you suggested, but the numbers are still wrong on form 8812 Line 5.  Still not showing 6,600.00.  

The form clearly shows one child under six.

There is no other place to check the number.  It will let me override it to 6,600.00. 

It still is not fixed.

[RobertB4444]

Have you entered in the amount of child tax credit that you received in advance?

Have you checked the amount of your total income against the income phaseout amounts for the child tax credit?

Credit Calculation

[Towanda53]

Yes the advance has been entered correctly.

The credit is well under the income limit.

The line 5 is the problem.  It refers to a worksheet, but there is no worksheet.

4a is 2

4b is 1

4c is 1

[JamesG1]

What income are you reporting on line 11 of the Federal 1040 tax return?  Higher incomes can disallow the newer portion of the Child Tax Credit.

The Child Tax Credit phases out in two different steps based on your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021.

The first phaseout can reduce the Child Tax Credit to $2,000 per child as follows: 

• The first phaseout step can reduce only the $1,600 increase for qualifying children ages 5 and under, and
• The $1,000 increase for qualifying children ages 6 through 17, at the end of 2021. 

 The Child Tax Credit begins to be reduced to $2,000 per child if your modified AGI in 2021 exceeds: 

• $150,000 if married and filing a joint return or if filing as a qualifying widow/widower;
• $112,500 if filing as head of household; or
• $75,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return. 

The first phaseout reduces the Child Tax Credit by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which your modified AGI exceeds the income threshold described above that is applicable to you.

The second phaseout can reduce the remaining Child Tax Credit below $2,000 per child.

The Child Tax Credit won’t begin to be reduced below $2,000 per child until your modified AGI in 2021 exceeds: 

• $400,000 if married and filing a joint return; or
• $200,000 for all other filing statuses. 

The second phaseout reduces the Child Tax Credit by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which your modified AGI exceeds the income threshold described above that is applicable to you.

[Towanda53]

Okay.  I get now.  The problem with the calculation is there is no line 5 worksheet showing how it is calculated.

I went to the IRS website and used their worksheet showing me how the number on line 5 form 8812 is calculated.  I agree that the 6,000 number is now correct.

The 8812 form doesn't show the first phase out calculation.  So you don't even realize there is first phase out tier. The numbers displayed go right into the second tier phase out of 400,000 on the form.

It would be nice if you showed the first phase out calculation/worksheet (line 5) when you right click the cell for the the data source instead of going to the "about" explanation, which just confuses you more.

Thank you so much for your help.