What Is Form 8812? How To Fix Schedule 8812 TurboTax Error

TurboTax is a known software for filing tax returns and tax preparations. Many small and medium businesses use this software to file and manage their taxes. Even self-employed individuals make use of this software. It has various features that make your life convenient by helping out with tasks that would have been, otherwise, hectic.

The software also allows filing forms related to tax returns for different categories of individuals. TurboTax provides the option of filing form 8812 and assists in the process. Form 8812 is also commonly referred to as Schedule 8812. You can also get additional child tax credit by attaching schedule 8812 to form 1040 or form 1040-SR.

Before we discuss the TurboTax errors in schedule 8812, you should first know what the form is about.

Table of Contents

What Is Form 8812?

You should know that the use of Form 8812 is for receiving Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. You can receive these credits even if you owe income tax to the federal government.

Depending on the recipient, the credit can be refundable as well as a non-refundable tax credit. The Additional Child Tax Credit is usually the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit.

Who Is Eligible For Child Tax Credit?

Now that you know what schedule 8812 is about, we can move on to the eligibility criteria for receiving the Child Tax Credit. The eligibility of a child for the Child Tax Credit is as follows.

The age of the child must be below 17 years at year-end.
The child must also be either: a US citizen, US native, or US resident.

There are some other factors as well, such as the relationship between the taxpayer and the child, their joint number, or authentication of Social Security Number (SSN).

The Child Tax Credit also applies to parents who are separated or divorced. But, in the case of a parent without custody of the child is only eligible if the non-custodial parent making a claim can show the child as a dependent and can claim the Child Tax Credit.

But, if parents have tax liabilities, that can limit their Child Tax Credit. In such cases, Additional Child Tax Credit can help.

Qualifications For Additional Child Tax Credit

Here is the qualification for the Additional Child Tax Credit:

The income you earn must be more than $2500
There must be at least three qualifying children, if not more

In the case of a single qualifying child, the credit claim is up to 15% of the income that exceeds the threshold income of $2500. For three or more qualifying children, you can claim a refundable credit in excess of your EIC (earned income credit) of net Social Security and Medicare Tax. The maximum credit limit from the refundable portion is up to $1500 for every qualifying child.

Schedule 8812 TurboTax Errors And Their Fix

Now, let’s get back to the issue of TurboTax Errors that ruin a user’s experience, and anyone can come across them.

“Advance Payments Must Be Entered” Error

This error can occur when you file federal returns. You will see two errors in Schedule 8812 saying, “Advance payments must be entered.” The error will be for lines B1 and B2 of the form.

It even occurs for users who do not have any dependents in their Tax returns. The error can occur in the older or outdated versions of the software. You can try updating to the latest version of TurboTax, and if that doesn’t help, then the following steps may help you:

Start by logging in to your account
Go to the “Federal taxes” option and then select “Deductions and Credits.”
Look for the option of “Child and Other Dependent Tax Credit.”
Continue, and you will see a message saying, “We’ll start off with the advance child tax credit payment.”
Select “No” and check if the error gets fixed

You can also try entering 0 when Schedule 8812 asks you to enter a number. This fix will help by removing Schedule 8812 from the tax return.

Schedule 8812 Sheet 5 Error

There are cases where people were notified of errors in the Refundable Child Tax Credit from the IRS. This error is encountered even for those whose total income is in the phaseout range of $150,000 and $400,000.

This issue in Sheet 5 may be because of the issue of not reporting the advanced child tax credit on Line 14f.

In order to fix this issue, you can try the following fixes.

Ensure that the information you enter in Schedule 8812 was correct.
You can also make sure that the amount of transfer in Schedule 8812 was transferred properly.
Also, try to report the Advanced Child Tax Credit through the proper channels if you received it.

TurboTax Generating Schedule 8812 Without Children

It is a common error that many people with no children have come across in TurboTax. Neither did they have any dependents and yet the software is generating Schedule 8812 for them.

The most common fix that has worked for this issue is by entering “0” in the form and saving it. If this doesn’t work, you can try visiting the “Tax Tools” option on the software. Select the “Tools” option from the screen and then delete Schedule 8812 using the option “Delete a form.”

Conclusion

Form 8812 provides a great way for parents to reduce the tax burden with Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. However, filling out the form recklessly and disregarding the proper guidelines can also lead to debarment for up to two years. To prevent such errors, ensure that your form is filed perfectly.

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