Did I incorrectly file Form 8812 for Child Tax Credit in 2022?

I thought the phase-out was at $200,000 for MFJ, not $400,000? I swear I started losing some of my child tax credit around $220k last year. Also, doesn't some of the credit become non-refundable above certain income levels?

$200,000 was the threshold for the expanded/advanced CTC portions in 2021, but for 2022 the basic $2,000 CTC didn't begin phasing out until $400,000 for MFJ. This sometimes causes confusion because the rules changed between those years. Regarding refundability, you're correct that there are limitations. Only up to $1,500 per child was potentially refundable in 2022 (as the Additional Child Tax Credit). The remaining amount is non-refundable, meaning it can only offset your tax liability. If your tax liability was already reduced by other credits or deductions, you might not have been able to use the full non-refundable portion.

Did you need to create an account to use it? I'm always hesitant to upload my tax docs to random websites. How secure is it?

Can it actually tell you if there are mistakes, or does it just explain what's on the forms? I'm wondering if it would actually help determine if filing an amendment is worth it.

Yes, you do need to create an account, but they use bank-level encryption for all documents. They don't store your info permanently and you can delete everything after you're done. I was hesitant too, but they have some serious security credentials. It does more than just explain - it actually checks for calculation errors and inconsistencies between forms. In my case, it specifically pointed out that my Form 8812 had incorrect values on Line 14f which affected my refundable amount. It saved me over $2,700 when I filed an amendment! It even explains if the amendment would be worth it based on how much you'd recover.

Wait, so you pay a service to call the IRS for you? How does that even work? Seems like it would be cheaper to just keep trying myself.

Sounds like a scam. The IRS eventually answers if you keep calling. Why would anyone pay for something like this when you could just be persistent?

It doesn't actually call the IRS for you - it uses technology to navigate the phone tree and hold in line for you. When an agent is about to answer, you get a call connecting you directly to them. So you're still the one talking to the IRS, but without wasting hours on hold. I understand the skepticism - I felt the same way. But after spending over 4 hours across 3 days trying to get through without success, the service was worth it to me. Think about what your time is worth. I was able to work and be productive instead of sitting with a phone on speaker for hours, and I got my $3,200 amendment question answered in one call.

I did check both parts, and all of our kids were qualifying children under 17, so we didn't have any "other dependents" to claim. And we didn't receive any advance payments in 2021 that would affect the 2022 return - we actually opted out of those. What's confusing me is that with 4 kids, we should have gotten the full $8,000 ($2,000 × 4), but when I look at the actual credit amount on our Form 1040, it's significantly less. I'm wondering if maybe our tax software or preparer made a calculation error on Form 8812.

In that case, I would recommend looking specifically at the calculations on Form 8812, particularly around the refundable portion. For 2022, the refundable portion was limited to 15% of your earned income above $2,500. So if somehow your "earned income" was calculated incorrectly (which is different from AGI), that could limit the refundable portion. Another thing to check is if you had any other non-refundable credits that used up your tax liability, potentially limiting how much of the non-refundable portion of the CTC you could use.

I used TurboTax to amend my 2022 return specifically for Form 8812 issues. It was pretty simple - they walk you through which forms need to be changed and calculate everything for you. Just make sure you have a copy of your original return handy because you'll need to enter some of the original information first before making changes.