Filing Questions About Child Tax Credit Advanced Payments and Form 8812

I'm a little confused about my tax return this year. I received the monthly advanced child tax credit payments throughout the year, and now I'm working on my taxes using H&R Block software. The thing is, my estimated refund is showing up as only $2,800 when in previous years I got around $4,000. I made roughly $37,000 this year, which is pretty much the same as what I earned before. I'm wondering if I need to file Form 8812 somewhere in the software? And if so, where do I find it? Is the lower refund amount because I haven't submitted the 8812 form yet? I feel like I'm missing something since my refund is so much lower despite my income being the same.

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18 comments

Elliott luviBorBatman

•8M

The lower refund amount is perfectly normal considering you received advanced child tax credit payments throughout the year. Those monthly payments you got were essentially getting part of your refund in advance, so naturally your final refund amount will be smaller. Form 8812 (Schedule 8812) "Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents" should automatically be included in your H&R Block filing if you indicate that you received the advanced child tax credit payments. The software should prompt you to enter the total amount of advanced payments you received, which can be found on Letter 6419 that the IRS sent in January. If you received around $1,500-$1,800 in advanced payments per child, that would explain the roughly $1,200 difference in your refund compared to previous years. The total child tax credit is still the same ($3,600 for children under 6 or $3,000 for children 6-17), but since you already received about half of it throughout the year, you're now getting the remaining portion in your refund.

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Elliott luviBorBatman

•8M

You can check your advanced Child Tax Credit payment amounts by logging into your IRS online account at IRS.gov/account. The total payments should be listed there under the "Tax Records" tab. If you don't have an online account, you can request a transcript by going to IRS.gov/transcripts or call the IRS directly at their dedicated Child Tax Credit Update Portal assistance line. Make sure you have your identifying information ready like your SSN, date of birth, and filing status from your most recent tax return.

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Mateusius Townsend

•8M

I was in almost the exact same situation last month. I got those monthly payments and then my refund looked way smaller than expected. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to look over my return before submitting and it caught that I had misunderstood how the advanced payments work. The tool analyzed my tax documents and explained that the advanced payments I received (about $1,800 total for my kid) were already part of my child tax credit. It actually found a mistake in how I reported my childcare expenses that H&R Block didn't catch, which added about $600 back to my refund. The whole thing took like 10 minutes and saved me from filing incorrectly.

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Mateusius Townsend

•8M

Yes, it works with state returns too! I uploaded both my federal and state returns for review and it analyzed both of them. The suggestions it made for my childcare expenses affected both returns since that deduction works at both levels in my state. The way it checks for mistakes is actually different from tax software. Instead of just asking questions, it uses some kind of AI to review your actual completed forms and compares them against tax rules. It found that I had split my childcare expenses incorrectly between me and my ex, which H&R Block didn't flag because I had entered everything consistently based on my misunderstanding.

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Philip Cowan

•8M

Ok I have to admit I was skeptical (as you can see from my earlier comment lol) but I checked out taxr.ai and it was super helpful. I uploaded my draft return from TurboTax and it immediately flagged that I hadn't properly accounted for those advanced child tax credit payments. I had completely forgotten about those monthly deposits! It explained exactly how much I had received already ($1,500) and how that affected my overall refund. Plus it found a work expense deduction I had missed. Now my return makes way more sense and I actually found an extra $320 in deductions I would have missed. Definitely worth trying if you're confused about why your refund changed from last year.

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Caesar Grant

•8M

For anyone dealing with IRS questions about those advance Child Tax Credit payments or Form 8812, just know the IRS phone lines are absolutely swamped right now. I spent 3 days trying to get through to ask about my Letter 6419 showing incorrect payment amounts. I finally used https://claimyr.com after seeing it recommended here and it was a game-changer. They hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an agent is about to be available. Check out how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Got connected to an IRS agent within 2 hours instead of spending days redialing. The agent confirmed I could use my bank statements to verify the actual payment amounts if the letter was wrong. Saved me so much time and frustration!

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Caesar Grant

•8M

It doesn't call the IRS "for you" - it uses an automated system to wait in the phone queue for you. Basically it keeps dialing and navigating the phone tree until it actually gets in the queue, then it monitors the hold music. When it detects that an agent is about to pick up, it calls your phone and connects you directly to the IRS call. It absolutely does work. The reason regular people can't get through is because the IRS phone lines get maxed out with callers. The service just handles the frustrating part of constantly redialing and waiting on hold. There's no magic priority access - you still wait in the same queue as everyone else, you just don't have to do it with your phone tied up for hours.

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Gemma Andrews

•8M

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After trying for 3 more days to reach the IRS about my missing Letter 6419, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Within 90 minutes I got a call connecting me to an actual IRS representative! The agent was super helpful and verified all my advanced Child Tax Credit payments in their system. Turns out I received $1,800 total which is exactly why my refund is lower this year. She also helped me understand how to properly report it on my return without the letter. For anyone struggling to reach the IRS during filing season, this service is worth every penny. Saved me days of frustration and helped me file correctly.

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Pedro Sawyer

•8M

Not to confuse things more, but wanted to add that Form 8812 changed significantly for this tax year. The old version was pretty simple, but the new one has multiple parts and worksheets. If you're filing by hand (which I don't recommend with the CTC advanced payments), make sure you're using the current version. H&R Block software should handle this automatically, but sometimes it helps to know where to look. In H&R Block, after entering your dependent info, there should be a section about "Child Tax Credit" or "Credits for Children and Dependents" where you can verify the advanced payments are properly accounted for.

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Rosie Harper

•8M

Thank you for this information! I found the section in H&R Block you mentioned and it did ask for the advanced payment amount. Once I entered the total from my bank statements (around $1,800), it adjusted my refund calculation and everything made more sense. It does actually do the Form 8812 automatically. I also realized I was comparing to years when my child was younger and I qualified for additional credits. Getting half the child tax credit in advance definitely explains the difference in my refund amount.

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