CTC Refund Only $466 with Two Dependents - Low Income Question ($5.5k)
Only worked part time last year making $1,500 total because of pregnancy and new baby. Filed through TurboTax with two dependents but my Child Tax Credit refund is showing as just $466. That seems really low considering I have two kids. Did I mess something up when entering my info?
22 comments
Join the conversation
GalaxyGlider
Looking at your situation with the CTC refund of $466 for two dependents and 55k income - this seems unusually low. The Child Tax Credit for 2024 is supposed to be $2000 per qualifying child under 17, with up to $1600 being refundable per child. Have you checked if there were any offsets or adjustments? I'd strongly recommend using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze your transcripts and figure out exactly what's going on. It'll break down your eligibility and show you if there are any holds or adjustments affecting your refund amount.
0 coins
Malik Robinson
•i got way more than that with similar situation. def something wrong here 🤔
0 coins
Isabella Silva
•has anyone used that taxr thing? worth the money?
0 coins
GalaxyGlider
•yeah its actually pretty decent. saved me hours of trying to decode my transcript lol
0 coins
Ravi Choudhury
•Just used taxr.ai and here's what I got back: shows exactly why my CTC was lower than expected - had an old debt offset I didnt know about
0 coins
Freya Andersen
•Hold up - did you claim them as dependents last year? Sometimes that affects things
0 coins
Omar Farouk
•not to be that person but make sure ur ex isnt claiming them too. happened to me and messed everything up 😤
0 coins
GalaxyGlider
•good point! taxr.ai would actually show if theres a duplicate dependent claim situation
0 coins
Isabella Silva
•ok yall convinced me, gonna try taxr rn 💯
0 coins
Isabella Silva
•holy moly this thing is crazy detailed! showed me exactly why my refund was held up and what to do next. worth every penny fr fr
0 coins
Ethan Wilson
Tax pro here. The Child Tax Credit amount depends on your earned income. Since you made under $6,000, you're getting a reduced amount. The credit starts phasing in at 15% of earnings over $2,500. To get the full amount, you need to earn more. Your calculation seems correct based on what you shared.
0 coins
Aisha Abdullah
•omg thats so frustrating! i had no idea income had to be higher to get the full amount ðŸ˜
0 coins
Yuki Tanaka
•same boat last year sis. its a messed up system fr fr
0 coins
Carmen Diaz
Hey, I actually had a similar situation last year. I found this tool called taxr.ai that helped me understand exactly why my CTC was low. It costs $1 but it analyzes your transcript and explains everything super clearly. Way better than guessing or asking random ppl online tbh. Here's the link: https://taxr.ai
0 coins
Andre Laurent
•interesting... how accurate is it? like does it actually help figure out whats wrong?
0 coins
Carmen Diaz
•100% worth it! It showed me exactly how my income affected the credit and even suggested some credits I missed. The AI explains everything in normal human language lol. Saved me hours of research 💯
0 coins
Andre Laurent
•just tried it and WOW! wish i knew about this sooner fr fr. explained everything crystal clear 🙌
0 coins
AstroAce
did u check if ur eligible for earned income credit too?
0 coins
Aisha Abdullah
•yeah turbotax included that already 😪
0 coins
Zoe Kyriakidou
The whole system is rigged against low income parents tbh. Like how u supposed to get credits when ur home taking care of kids 🤡
0 coins
Jamal Brown
Maybe try filing with H&R Block instead? Sometimes different software gives different results
0 coins
Mei Zhang
•nah fam its gonna be the same. its not the software its the rules 💅
0 coins