Tax Planning IRS Letters 6419 and 6475 for the Advance Child Tax Credit and Third Stimulus: What You Need to Know When Preparing Your 2021 Income Tax Return Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by Katharina Reekmans, EA Published Jan 20, 2022 - [Updated May 16, 2024] 4 min read Reviewed by Jotika Teli, CPA Lena Hanna, CPA In 2021, the IRS began sending out two new letters. Letter 6419 was issued to people who received the 2021 monthly advance Child Tax Credit Payments and Letter 6475 was issued to people who received a stimulus payment in 2021. If you received either of those, you will need these forms to file your 2021 income tax returns – don’t throw them out! Letter 6419, 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit (CTC): If you received monthly CTC payments in 2021, you should have received this letter from the IRS in January 2022. If you filed as married filing jointly on your prior year tax return, then both you and your spouse receive a Letter 6419. This letter has the total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments you received from July 2021 to December 2021. The IRS will use this number to help reconcile your advance Child Tax Credit payments – basically to make sure you got the right amount. If you should have gotten higher CTC monthly payments, you will get that additional money as part of your refund. If you received too much in CTC payments, you may owe that money back at tax time. Letter 6419 Example Letter 6475, Your Third Economic Impact Payment: This letter will have the total amount of your stimulus payment you received in 2021. If you didn’t get the full stimulus amount you were eligible for, then you may be able to claim those dollars through the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 tax return. Letter 6475 has all the info you need to report the correct amount of the third stimulus you received and understand if you are eligible for additional stimulus dollars and how much. If you and your spouse are filing a married filing joint return you will need to add the amounts from both your letters when completing your tax return. TurboTax has specific guidance to help you easily report your 2021 advance Child Tax Credit payments and your third stimulus payment to ensure you can claim the additional credits you are eligible for on your 2021 income tax return. No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund – guaranteed. Letter 6475 Example Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Q: My spouse and I both got a Letter 6475, how much do I input when filing my taxes? A: The Letter 6475 confirms the total amount of the third stimulus check (Economic Impact Payment) and any plus-up payments you received for tax year 2021. For taxpayers filing a joint return, each spouse will receive their own letter showing half of the total amount. Therefore, if you file married filing a joint return, you will need both letters when filing your tax return as both amounts will need to be added together. If you file separate 2021 tax returns, each of you must enter the amount as shown on your Letter 6475. Q: I did not receive my Letter 6475, is there any other way to get this information? A: If you did not receive your Letter 6475, you can check Your IRS Online Account to securely access your individual IRS account information. The amount of your third Economic Impact Payment is shown on the Tax Records page under the section “Economic Impact Payment Information”. If you and your spouse received joint payments, each of you will need to sign into your own account to retrieve your separate amounts. Q: My spouse and I both got a Letter 6419, how much do I input when filing my taxes? A: Married filers, you both will receive your own IRS Letter 6419. If you are married filing a joint tax return, you will need both letters when filing your tax return as both amounts will need to be added together on your tax return. Q: I did not receive my Letter 6419, is there any other way to get this information? A: If you did not receive your Letter 6419, you can check Your IRS Online Account to securely access your individual IRS account information. In your IRS Online Account you will be able to get your advance Child Tax Credit payment total and number of qualifying children. Previous Post Estimate Your Tax Refund with the TurboTax TaxCaster! Next Post Avoid IRS Tax Refund Delays with These Easy Filing Tips Written by Katharina Reekmans Katharina Reekmans is an Enrolled Agent and a contributor to the TurboTax Blog team. Katharina has years of experience in tax preparation and representation before the IRS. Her passions surround financial literary and tax law interpretation. She has a strong commitment to using all resources and knowledge to best serve the interest of clients. Katharina has worked as a senior tax accountant, operations manager, and controller. Katharina prides herself on unraveling tax laws so that the average person can understand them. More from Katharina Reekmans 19 responses to “IRS Letters 6419 and 6475 for the Advance Child Tax Credit and Third Stimulus: What You Need to Know When Preparing Your 2021 Income Tax Return” I file jointly with my wife. We each received letter 6419, but I don’t see where to enter that information into TurboTax. TurboTax is asking me for information from letter 6475 – which neither of us received. What should I do? Reply Hi Doug, Enter your Advance Child Tax Credit information from IRS Letter 6419 here: 1. Open your return. 2. Click on Federal tab under Tax Home. 3. Click on the Edit/Add button next to Advance payments, Child and Other Dependent Tax Credits (under Your tax breaks). 4. Answer the interview questions. For the questions about the 6475, TurboTax may be asking you questions to determine if you are eligible for a Recovery Rebate Credit for the third stimulus payment. Hope this helps! Best, Katharina Reekmans Reply We received “monthly payments” and from my understanding that means we should have gotten a form 6419, but my husband and I both received forms 6475 and it adds up to double (plus some) of what we actually received. How do I go about inputting this information? Reply Hi Jamie, To clarify, letter 6475 has information regarding your third stimulus payment. But if you haven’t received your letter 6419 and received monthly advance payments of the child tax credit you can check your IRS Online Account to get the total of advance monthly payments you received and the number of qualifying children. Likewise, if you need information regarding your third Economic Impact Payment (also known as third stimulus check) you can find this information on your IRS Online Account. Both you and your spouse will need to sign into your own IRS Online Account to retrieve your separate amounts to be added together when filing your taxes if married filing a joint return. Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply Hi I see oops wrong letter my number 6475, sorry, I be my real letter 6465 my account. This fix change new my letter 6465 real my account . Thank u Reply Neither myself or my husband received form 6419 and we are married filing jointly. The IRS website has the same information on each accounts. Do I add the two amounts together? Or do I use one amount for the two children? Reply Hi Jeannette, If you and your husband are married filing a joint tax return you will need to add the amounts from the two accounts together. Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply My wife received letter 6475 but I did not. Should I have also received the letter since we filed jointly last year? Is there any circumstance where my wife would receive it, but I would not? Reply Hi Robert, You should have also received a Letter 6475 if you received a third stimulus payment in 2021. If you did not receive your Letter 6475, you can check Your IRS Online Account to securely access your individual IRS account information. Hope this helps! Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans Reply Still not very clear on 6475. Wife and I file jointly in 2021 and now again in 2022. We both received a 6475 letter. We both show $2,100 on each letter. On the Turbotax form on the question for 6475 do we add both the amounts, $2,100 from wife’s letter + the $2,100 from my letter, TOTAL of $4,200 in to the form or just one $2,100? Reply Hi Martin, If you received joint payments with your spouse, the letter 6475 show the total amount of payment. If you file a married filing joint tax return, you will enter the one amount ($4,200 based on the details you shared). If you file separate 2021 tax returns, each of you must enter half of the amount of the payment. Hope this provides some clarity. Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans Reply From what I understand, the 3rd stimulus was “non-taxable”. When I came to the part regarding putting that information in, I noticed that if you put the total amount you received in the box, your tax refund drops like 90%. If you don’t put your total amount of the 3rd stimulus in, then your tax refund amount doesn’t drop. Why is that my tax refund goes down if I report my $1400 on my tax return but stays the same if I don’t? Reply Hi John, You are correct, the stimulus payments are not considered taxable income. When completing your tax return, until you put in the amount that you received for the third stimulus payment, the software assumes that you did not receive any money. Once you input the amount of the stimulus payment you received the refund amount will be decreased by that number as you already received the money. Hope this provides more clarity! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply Your explanation is still not clear I am married filing jointly and both my spouse and I both received a letter 6475 from the IRS with the same amount on each (in our case $4900 on both). Am I supposed to claim the combined amount ($9800) or claim the $4900? Reply Hi Travis, If you are married filing jointly you and your spouse will both receive a letter 6419 from the IRS. The amounts on each letter 6419 need to be added together to claim the correct amount of the credit on your tax return. The letter 6475 will include information on amount of your stimulus payment in 2021 (just the third stimulus payment). Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply Hi Katharina – I have the same question. My question is not about letter 6419, but letter 6475. The TurboTax software instructs the tax filer to enter the amount from both letters 6419 if you are married filing jointly (the amounts are entered in two separate boxes). The TurboTax software does not instruct the tax filer to do the same with the amount from letter 6475 (there is only one box). Should the amount entered be from only one letter 6475 or the combined amount from both letters 6475 when married filing jointly. Thanks. Hi Josh, If you received a joint payment with your spouse, the letter 6475 shows the total amount of payments. If you file separate 2021 tax returns, each of you must enter your half of the amount of the payment shown on Letter 6475. So if you and your spouse are filing a married filing joint return you can enter the one amount (adding the amounts) from both letters as the total in that one box on the TurboTax software. Hope this helps! Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans If both parents received these letters and they are the same numbers as far as number of children and the amounts received, do you add them 2 $ amounts together? 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I file jointly with my wife. We each received letter 6419, but I don’t see where to enter that information into TurboTax. TurboTax is asking me for information from letter 6475 – which neither of us received. What should I do? Reply
Hi Doug, Enter your Advance Child Tax Credit information from IRS Letter 6419 here: 1. Open your return. 2. Click on Federal tab under Tax Home. 3. Click on the Edit/Add button next to Advance payments, Child and Other Dependent Tax Credits (under Your tax breaks). 4. Answer the interview questions. For the questions about the 6475, TurboTax may be asking you questions to determine if you are eligible for a Recovery Rebate Credit for the third stimulus payment. Hope this helps! Best, Katharina Reekmans Reply
We received “monthly payments” and from my understanding that means we should have gotten a form 6419, but my husband and I both received forms 6475 and it adds up to double (plus some) of what we actually received. How do I go about inputting this information? Reply
Hi Jamie, To clarify, letter 6475 has information regarding your third stimulus payment. But if you haven’t received your letter 6419 and received monthly advance payments of the child tax credit you can check your IRS Online Account to get the total of advance monthly payments you received and the number of qualifying children. Likewise, if you need information regarding your third Economic Impact Payment (also known as third stimulus check) you can find this information on your IRS Online Account. Both you and your spouse will need to sign into your own IRS Online Account to retrieve your separate amounts to be added together when filing your taxes if married filing a joint return. Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply
Hi I see oops wrong letter my number 6475, sorry, I be my real letter 6465 my account. This fix change new my letter 6465 real my account . Thank u Reply
Neither myself or my husband received form 6419 and we are married filing jointly. The IRS website has the same information on each accounts. Do I add the two amounts together? Or do I use one amount for the two children? Reply
Hi Jeannette, If you and your husband are married filing a joint tax return you will need to add the amounts from the two accounts together. Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply
My wife received letter 6475 but I did not. Should I have also received the letter since we filed jointly last year? Is there any circumstance where my wife would receive it, but I would not? Reply
Hi Robert, You should have also received a Letter 6475 if you received a third stimulus payment in 2021. If you did not receive your Letter 6475, you can check Your IRS Online Account to securely access your individual IRS account information. Hope this helps! Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans Reply
Still not very clear on 6475. Wife and I file jointly in 2021 and now again in 2022. We both received a 6475 letter. We both show $2,100 on each letter. On the Turbotax form on the question for 6475 do we add both the amounts, $2,100 from wife’s letter + the $2,100 from my letter, TOTAL of $4,200 in to the form or just one $2,100? Reply
Hi Martin, If you received joint payments with your spouse, the letter 6475 show the total amount of payment. If you file a married filing joint tax return, you will enter the one amount ($4,200 based on the details you shared). If you file separate 2021 tax returns, each of you must enter half of the amount of the payment. Hope this provides some clarity. Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans Reply
From what I understand, the 3rd stimulus was “non-taxable”. When I came to the part regarding putting that information in, I noticed that if you put the total amount you received in the box, your tax refund drops like 90%. If you don’t put your total amount of the 3rd stimulus in, then your tax refund amount doesn’t drop. Why is that my tax refund goes down if I report my $1400 on my tax return but stays the same if I don’t? Reply
Hi John, You are correct, the stimulus payments are not considered taxable income. When completing your tax return, until you put in the amount that you received for the third stimulus payment, the software assumes that you did not receive any money. Once you input the amount of the stimulus payment you received the refund amount will be decreased by that number as you already received the money. Hope this provides more clarity! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply
I am married filing jointly and both my spouse and I both received a letter 6475 from the IRS with the same amount on each (in our case $4900 on both). Am I supposed to claim the combined amount ($9800) or claim the $4900? Reply
Hi Travis, If you are married filing jointly you and your spouse will both receive a letter 6419 from the IRS. The amounts on each letter 6419 need to be added together to claim the correct amount of the credit on your tax return. The letter 6475 will include information on amount of your stimulus payment in 2021 (just the third stimulus payment). Hope this helps! Sincerely, Katharina Reekmans Reply
Hi Katharina – I have the same question. My question is not about letter 6419, but letter 6475. The TurboTax software instructs the tax filer to enter the amount from both letters 6419 if you are married filing jointly (the amounts are entered in two separate boxes). The TurboTax software does not instruct the tax filer to do the same with the amount from letter 6475 (there is only one box). Should the amount entered be from only one letter 6475 or the combined amount from both letters 6475 when married filing jointly. Thanks.
Hi Josh, If you received a joint payment with your spouse, the letter 6475 shows the total amount of payments. If you file separate 2021 tax returns, each of you must enter your half of the amount of the payment shown on Letter 6475. So if you and your spouse are filing a married filing joint return you can enter the one amount (adding the amounts) from both letters as the total in that one box on the TurboTax software. Hope this helps! Best Regards, Katharina Reekmans
If both parents received these letters and they are the same numbers as far as number of children and the amounts received, do you add them 2 $ amounts together? Reply