Energy credit and child tax credit

[JenMO]

Geo thermal 30% credit - When tax liability is less that the credit, I lost the child tax credit. is that right?

[ATSMAN]

Geo thermal 30% credit - When tax liability is less that the credit, I lost the child tax credit. is that right?

Energy credit and CTC will offset the tax to 0. They are not refundable credits. But the return may also qualify for additional tax credit

[JenMO]

YES, the return finally showed up with the add'l child tax credit. So, I guess I didn't actually lose it, just moved on me. I thought tax credits went in order as on the form, and we would get the child tax credits first, then the energy credit, and what was left would move to next year. Instead we are eating up our energy credits, and getting a child tax refund. Seems like it should be the other way around, then there would only be the refund of taxes withheld. I guess gov't just wants to give out more money.

[David1980]

The order seems to change time to time based on what congress passes. They also don't pass them in such a way you can just do them in order. Some credits have different ordering vs. other credits. So it ends up on a worksheet somewhere. Line 14?

[Gary2]

I thought there was a conscious decision to make CTC last, so as to maximize the ACTC. This works to the taxpayer's advantage. If you applied the CTC before some other non-refundable credit, it wouldn't leave any for the refundable part.

[ATSMAN]

I amended a tax return for a young lady last summer because she was not aware of additional child tax credit and the software she used to self prepare did not add that. Was she happy!