Tax year 2021/filing season 2022 Child Tax Credit frequently asked questions — Topic F: Commonly asked filing season questions

A1. If your spouse died in 2021 and you didn’t remarry in 2021, or if your spouse died in 2022 before filing a return for 2021, you can file a joint return with your spouse.

If you file a joint 2021 tax return with your spouse, you will need to compare:

1. The total amount of the advance Child Tax Credit payments that you and your spouse received during 2021; with
2. The amount of the Child Tax Credit that you and your spouse can properly claim on your 2021 tax return.

Use Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) to:

• Figure your 2021 Child Tax Credit;
• Report the advance Child Tax Credit payments you and your spouse received in 2021; and
• Figure any additional tax owed – only if you received an amount of excess advance Child Tax Credit payments during 2021 and do not qualify for repayment protection equal to that amount.

Note: If you are not filing a joint 2021 tax return with your spouse, do not include the amount of advance Child Tax Credit attributable to your spouse.

Note: In general, the final individual income tax return of a decedent is prepared and filed in the same manner as when they were alive. All tax year 2021 income up to the date of death must be reported and all credits and deductions to which the decedent is entitled may be claimed.

A2. No, the IRS will not reject your tax return if you made an error in reconciling your 2021 advance Child Tax Credit payments.

Do not file an amended tax return with the IRS.

If you make a mistake in determining the amount of 2021 Child Tax Credit for which you are eligible, the IRS will:

1. calculate the correct amount of the Child Tax Credit,
2. make the correction to your tax return, and
3. continue processing your return.

If a correction is needed, the correction will increase the time it takes to process your return. The IRS will send you a notice explaining any change made.

A3. If you agree with the changes we made, no response or action is required.

The notice is informing you the IRS already adjusted the Child Tax Credit claimed on your return.

If you disagree with the changes we made, you can call us at the toll-free number listed on the top right corner of your notice. Have a copy of the Social Security card(s) and Individual Tax Identification Number(s) (ITINs) associated with the tax return available when you call.

A4. Because your qualifying child’s Social Security number was provided on a 2021 tax return that the IRS received before your return, you will need to file a paper return.

Next Steps:

• The IRS will send you a letter inquiring about your child to determine who properly claimed them.
• If the other person hasn’t already corrected the Social Security number or filed an amended return to remove them, a letter will be sent to them as well.

A5. Sometimes, a child meets the relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person.

Although the child is a qualifying child of each of these persons, generally only one person can treat the child as a qualifying child for the Child Tax Credit. For information about situations in which a child is a qualifying child of both parents, see Q B14 in Eligibility Rules for Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on a 2021 Tax Return. For more information about situations in which a child is a qualifying child of more than one taxpayer, see Qualifying Child of More Than One Person.

A6. When preparing your taxes and filing electronically, you must sign and validate your electronic tax return by entering your prior-year Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or your prior-year Self-Select PIN. 

• If you successfully used the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-Up Tool last year to register for advance Child Tax Credit payments or claim a 2020 Recovery Rebate Credit, enter "$1" as the prior year AGI verification.
• If you did not use the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-Up Tool last year and you did not file an electronic or a paper 2020 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR, you should enter "$0" as the prior year AGI verification.

If you filed an electronic or a paper 2020 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR, enter the AGI amount from line 11 of the submitted 2020 Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR as the prior year AGI verification. If you’re waiting for your 2020 tax return to be processed, enter $0 as the prior year AGI verification.