Question

I have four children. On my 1040 turbo tax did not check the child tax credit box for my fourth child. This has affected my early ctc. How do I get Turbo tax to fix it?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
August 22, 2021
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TurboTax Deluxe Online

D

DanPaul02

Where do you see a tax credit check box in TurboTax?

Critter-3

How old is the child as of the end of 2020?

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

Do you mean the box on your Form 1040 was not checked for the child tax credit for one of your children in the Dependent section on the top half of the Form 1040? What was the age of your fourth child at the end of 2020? When you entered information in My Info about the child, did you say the child lived with you for at least half the year? For a newborn you need to say the child lived with you the whole year.

If you answered incorrectly, then you might need to amend your 2020 return to fix it and get the child tax credit on your 2020 return. But amending will not help you get the advance monthly payments since it takes at least six months for the IRS to process an amended return.

The IRS will have a portal to enter new information about your family, but it is not operational yet; not sure if using it would affect monthly CTC payments for you for that child. The system is so new we do not know all of the ways the IRS will issue those monthly payments based on that portal when they start using it.

But if you claim the child on your 2021 tax return in 2022 you can still get the child tax credit for the child----the amount you receive is the same --- you just get the credit later.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

O

Opus 17

Employee

There are two separate issues. 1, you may need to file an amended return for 2020 to claim the additional child tax credit if the child is eligible. 2, how to inform the IRS of the additional child?

For your 2020 tax return, your child would be eligible as long as they are your own child, a step child, adopted child, or a foster child placed in your home, who lived in your home more than half the nights of the year and was under age 17 on December 31, 2020. If the child was 17 or older, they are not eligible. If the child is a newborn, then you must answer that they lived with you the entire year even if they were only born in the middle of the year. This is the correct answer for newborns to get the child tax credit. The newborn must also have a Social Security number before you filed your on time tax return. If you did not have a Social Security number, or if the child is not one of the qualifying types I mentioned above, then you would only receive the $500 “other dependent” tax credit. if the child was eligible, you need to file an amended return for 2020 to claim the additional child tax credit for 2020.

2. for the 2021 advance child tax credit payments, the IRS currently does not have a way to inform them of an additional child. They have said that they would create such a function on their website, but it is not ready yet. If the function is created late, or if you never have the chance to enter your fourth child, remember that the advanced credit only changes the timing of when you receive the credit, it does not change the amount of the credit. If you do not receive the full amount of the advanced credit, you will still receive the full child tax credit on your 2021 return, if the child is eligible.