Did not recive child tax credit

[yuliyash1106]

Hello. Please help me with a question, because accountants cannot explain it to me.

The first time my family and I entered the United States on October 1, 2019, we have a Green Card. When we filed taxes for 2019, the accountant said that we would not receive a child tax credit. I can't figure out why. We only submitted Form 1040. Do I need to live in the USA for more than 6 months for this credit? The IRS website only says that the child must live with you for more than 6 months a year and says nothing about living in the USA. Thank you so much.

[xmasbaby0]

You cannot get the child tax credit unless your child has a Social Security number.   If he has a ITIN you can get the $500 credit for other dependents.

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-f...

[DanaB27]

Did you all have valid Social Security Numbers that allowed you to work when you filed your 2019 return? To be able to claim the Child Tax Credit your child must fit all of these requirements:

• Be under age 17 at the end of the tax year
• Is your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, adopted child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, or a descendant of any of them (for example, a grandchild, niece, or nephew)
• Has his or her own Social Security Number
  • Children with ITINs don't qualify, but may instead be eligible for the $500 Credit for Other Dependents
• Lived with you for more than half the year
• Didn't support him/herself (didn't pay more than half their own expenses)
• Is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien
  • Residents of Canada or Mexico wouldn't qualify

[yuliyash1106]

Me, my husband and my child have SSN

[yuliyash1106]

My whole family got SSN as soon as we entered the USA

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

Then you should have qualified for Child Tax Credit if you met all other requirements.

One other issue might have been how much earned income you had because only up to $1,400 of the credit is refundable and is phased-in based on your earned income.  In most cases, you must have $2,500 or more of earned income to be eligible for any portion of the refundable Child Tax Credit.  

If you had earned income of more than $2,500 then you might want to amend your 2019 tax return to try to claim the Child Tax Credit.

But it might be tricky to use TurboTax if you filed your return somewhere else. To amend a return you did somewhere else, you would first have to fill out Turbo Tax like you are doing the original return and pay for it using the TurboTax 2019 software.  You have to recreate the actual wrong original return.  Then when it matches each line from the return that the accountant filed for you then you have to tell Turbo Tax that you want to mail it so it thinks it was filed. Then you can amend it.

The accountant might have referred to the Earned Income Credit (EIC) because the 6 months lived in the US is a requirement  for the EIC. Maybe check lines 13a and 18b if you got the Child Tax Credit.

[Edited 2/24/2021 | 1:38pm PST]

@yuliyash1106 

[yuliyash1106]

 Thank you for your answer. Yes, we earned more than $ 2500. The accountant said that we did not live in the USA for more than 6 months in 2019, so we are not qualified for this credit.