I worked through Schedule 8812, and you are correct. Thank you for catching the mistake and explaining it.Unless things have changed a bunch in the last few years, I don't think you are understanding the refundable/nonrefundable breakdown.
If the max credit is now $2200 per child, and $1700 is refundable, that means only $500 per child is nonrefundable, not the whole $2200. You'd only need $1k tax owed to use the whole nonrefundable portion, and could be refunded the $3400 refundable portion. So at least enough OI to reach the standard deduction + ($1k / 10%), or $41,500 for this year.
When our kids were younger, it was $1k per child under 17. We were also eligible for EITC (fully refundable), and state versions of both (33% of CTC and 30% of EITC) so we had years of tax refunds large enough to fund Roth IRAs for both of us ($5k or $5.5k limit then).
Statistics: Posted by toddthebod — Wed Nov 05, 2025 10:24 pm — Replies 9 — Views 482