The IRS rejected my 2020 baby for the recovery rebate, but accepted her for my child tax credit.

[Lortiz2]

I called the IRS. I did file and I did claim the recovery rebate credit. It was then removed and subtracted from my refund. I don’t have any children that turned 17 my oldest is 12 and 2 people at the IRS told me that any baby born in 2020 will not qualify. They both said in order to be eligible for the credit the child had to have been on my 2019 tax return. I told them their website says to claim the credit if a child was born in 2020. They said yes you can claim it but your child isn’t eligible unless they were listed on 2019 tax return! How does this make sense? They are just wrong. They don’t know the requirements for eligibility and they are denying anyone that had a child born in 2020 this money. But how can they not know if I know the requirements just by reading their websites.

[NCperson]

@Lortiz2 - appreciate you are getting the runaround from the IRS, but can you share what is actually on your tax return???  I agree that babies born in 2020 are eligible for the rebate, and maybe we can help you with the right ammunition in your next call with the IRS.  Can you please answer these questions and so we can see what the issue really is?   

1) What is on Line 30 of your tax return?

2) how much was each of your first two stimulus payments?

3) what was your 2020 filing status (joint, single, etc.)

4) how many children do you have under the age of 17 as of 12/31/20? 

5) on your tax return look over to the right of Baby's name - there is a small box under the words "CTC", please confirm that box is checked. 

[Cfaithn]

@Lortiz2 I apologize the IRS made a mistake on rejecting your Recovery Rebate Credit. There is good news,, the accounts management department is well aware that they (the IRS) has made errors on adjusting people's taxes. They are willing to readjust to correct their mistakes and here is what they told me to do to correct it..... once your refund hits your account you call the IRS back and then they are able to make the $1100 adjustment that they rejected in error. Not all departments are aware of the error hence the runaround. 

@NCperson you continue to ask people on this forum the same questions and neglect to educate yourself on the fact that this is an IRS error. Please be careful and stop adding fuel to people's already existing fires as the information and questions you keep giving/asking can be very upsetting. 

[Lortiz2]

@NCperson I’m not going to answer those questions, it almost seems like you are trying to steal information from people asking for such specific information. I did not make any errors the IRS made the error by deciding my child born in 2020 is ineligible. 
@Cfaithn I already got my refund, I’m going to just keep calling them because I believe that eventually I will get someone on the phone that knows about the credit and the actual laws for how they determine who is eligible. That sounds hopeful at least that you were able to get that information.

[NCperson]

@Lortiz2 - I am not trying to steal information (what could I do with it????) and I am not suggesting you made errors, but TT had a bug on returns filed prior to Feb 12 (there are a lot of posts complaining that the IRS adjusted their returns).  And I find many don't really understand the interplay between Stimulus and Recovery Credits, so I wanted to help you eliminate that the issue is either the bug in TT that existed through Feb 12 or any misunderstanding.   It would be unfortunate if you spent another hour on the phone with the IRS thinking the issue was caused by them when it wasn't.  That is all.  

ps and yes, you should get credit for a baby born in 2020 - no debate there - but for example if that little box to the right of Baby's name under the 'CTC' column is not checked, then that is the problem - and I've seen posts where that has been the issue.... so I am just trying to help, not steal. 

[Lortiz2]

Yes ctc is checked off for all my kids including the new baby. I triple checked everything and I also studied up on the laws and requirements for each EIP as well as for the RRC so I fully understand. The person I spoke with at the IRS yesterday was going by the rules set forth for them to follow when issuing payments for the first 2 EIP. These payments are advanced credits of the recovery rebate credit. So if you don’t get the EIP or you don’t get all of what you were supposed to then you claim the credit. RRC goes by your 2020 tax info. They are supposed to calculate the total amount you should receive for the first payments by your 2020 tax info then subtract the amount you already received and either refund you the remaining or reduce your tax bill if you owe. I was due $1100 for the baby born in February 2020. I have 5 kids total all under 12 so my dependents are 5 for 2020 instead of 4 from 2019. I don’t think there is any other way for me to get what I’m supposed to be getting until I can get someone on the phone that actually understands what the recovery rebate credit is.

[Cfaithn]

@Lortiz2 I have made many calls asking parents with children born in 2020 if they received the $1100 for their child and I've recognized this.....most ppl that only had one dependent claimed on their 2020 tax return (as they use the RRC) are not being denied their $1100 for that new child. It appears families with multiple children/dependents that use the RRC for the new baby born in 2020 are being rejected as an "error" on the IRS side. Some at the IRS department are aware of the error and have said that line 30 is new and with new additions come new errors. I believe persistence is the only thing that is going to pay off because it is money due and there are people at the IRS that know how to fix it and will. Just have to go through the ringers to get the right person. Stay patient and stay persistent, they can and will fix it once you get someone that knows how to and won't hang up on you, as that seems to be the new normal when calling in. 

[Lortiz2]

I was thinking that Maybe they rejected it because they were going to issue it as a plus up payment but then I got the plus up payment and it was just 1400 for the 3rd one. I tried calling a bunch of times today but haven’t been able to get through.

[Cfaithn]

So I will update as soon as we actually see the $1100 in our bank account but we have been told that in 4-6 weeks we will see the adjustment of the $1100 in our account. Again, they apologized for their error and said they corrected it and we will see it direct deposited in 4-6 weeks. 

[Lortiz2]

Oh nice, hopefully it’s quicker than that. Maybe I’ll get to talk to someone tomorrow, couldn’t get thru all day today....

[Russrn]

This is the same situation I am in as well.  Has this been corrected for everyone, and the $1100 will just show it in 4-6 weeks?, or am I going to have to play the phone game with them as well?

[Cfaithn]

@Russrn unfortunately they don't know where the error lies so they can't do a massive fix (though I imagine that eventually that will happen) but as of right now each individual that has had the error happen to them must call and request they fix it. Sorry. Patience and kindness goes a long way. I would say I spent over 6-8 hours in total over 2 weeks to finally get my correction made. Again, make sure you received your direct deposit of your refund before you even call otherwise they can't adjust the missing RRC. 

[VolvoGirl]

Hmmmm,  just thinking.......maybe the new baby's ssn isn't in the right Social Security database yet and the IRS didn't see it.  Maybe a disconnect between ss and IRS?

[Cfaithn]

@VolvoGirl not sure. It's very odd because the babies did receive the newest $1400 stimulus, late, but it came. So I really don't know the why nor has anyone I've talked to at the IRS but some at the IRS are very aware of the issue. 

[TSOWOATNKCR]

The SSN can't be incorrect for the RRC if it was fine for CTC.