Am I eligible for any child tax credit?

[d3ciph3rtax3s]

I would like to file my taxes as Head of Household. I was able to get a restraining order against my abusive spouse in late October. Prior to that we were living separately due to his abuse and also his living as a transient due to drug abuse. The length of time we've lived separately was over 6 months and I was the sole provider for our child. I am pursuing a divorce (final divorce hearing is next month). I spoke with a friend of mine that works as a financial advisor as her profession and she was under the impression that I could get a child tax credit of $1700 since I provided for our child singlehandedly but when I did my taxes it said I was ineligible for the earned income tax child credit and the additional child tax credit due to my income being too low. I receive $12,636 for my SSDI annually all

& $1596 SSDI for my son. If this is too low to receive any credit (I know its not technically earned/working at a job but it money I received). Additionally, lets say I sold items on various websites ebay, mercari, etc and the total I made per year was $2500+ would that be enough to qualify for either child tax credit or would that make a difference? Thanks

[xmasbaby0]

Sorry----the refundable child-related credits like earned income credit and additional child tax credit are based only on income you earned from working.  The SS disability is not counted when determining those credits.

If you have a small amount of self-employment income you *might* get a small amount of EIC or a few dollars for the ACTC---but not much, and you most certainly would not get the $1700.

  The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700.   In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.  

Take the amount you earned from working.   Subtract $2500.   Multiply the rest by 15%.  That is the additional child tax credit per child that you can get—- up to the maximum of $1700 per child.   If the amount you earned from working was low, you will not get the full $1700 per child.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-ea...

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf

Look at your 2024 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-retur...

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

And....you pay self-employment tax on the self-employment income.  If you had over $400 of self-employment income from the online sales, etc. you pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.  You will not owe any ordinary income tax.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed/help/what-is-the-self-employment-tax/00/25922

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/enter-self-empl...

Instead of using the expensive TurboTax Premium software, I suggest these options:

Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free.  There are 8  free software versions available from the IRS Free File site

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

Or—if you live in certain states you may be eligible to use the new IRS Direct File

In Filing Season 2025, Direct File will be available in Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

https://directfile.irs.gov/

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2629

[ThomasM125]

If you reported $2,500 of self-employment income, you would likely receive an earned income credit that would be a few hundred dollars more that your self-employment tax. Also, if you earned money from a side job you are required to report it so it would be best to enter it on your tax return. 

Earned income under $2,500 will not qualify you for a child tax credit.