Thank you for the response.  Somehow I missed it until today.  So I was able to test your suggestions by deleting the dependent and adding it back in. The EIC changed but the CTC did not.  So just to confirm there is no benefit to having 4 dependents for either the EIC or CTC?

I have not sorted it all out yet but this exercise of paper of pencil has opened my eyes,  I have always trusted the software, I just never understand the lower your income the lower the credits are.  That is illogical to me but it is what it is  Thank you for your help.

TP MFJ age 47 Spouse age 41 Business income - 4217 Income from housing subsidy for rent - 2413 Total income - 6630 Half SE - 298 AGI - 6332 Child 1 - 20 not working disabled in school not qualified for credit Child 2 - 18 still in high school vocational technical not qualified for credit Child 3 - 16 Child 4 - 12 When I look at EIC Worksheet it shows 2 children eligible When I look at the 8812 form it shows 2 children eligible When I look at the table in pub 596 is it based off AGI 6332 or Total Income 6630 or business income 4217 I do not find EIC of 1766 on this table Also discovered the child tax credit is based off the EIC  as a %. Not sure which amount is being used to compare to the table for the figuring the amount of credit. Help.  Why is this so difficult?  I thought this was designed to help low income families.  

First of all this may not matter but this is a blended family. The taxpayer and spouse have the same last name.  The 4 children on the return are the children of the spouse.  The children are 20, 18, 16, 12.  There is a 5th child that is a son of the taxpayer and has the same last name.  At this point that child was not included on the return for 2022 and so far is not included on the return for 2023 pending ironing out the filing between the tax payer and the biological mother.  They had a verbal agreement to alternate years to claim the client. This maybe a moot point.   I understand it is confusing so I am trying my best.  There are a couple different people responding so that is making it even more confusing for me.  I have never had such a dificulty filing a return before.

Sorry for the wordiness.  I added a child as a what if to see if it would have any impact on the credits and the refund.  That child should potentially be included if the mother follows through with their verbal agreement.   Then I learned that the oldest child talking college classes maybe considered disabled for working purposes.  They her doing that as a way giving her something to do socially. Selecting the disability indicator didn't change the result either.

This is a repeat client for several years.  The earned income credit calculated as $1766 and child tax credit calculated as $213 as compared to last year $6000 earned income credit and $3000 child tax credit.  Income is less in 2023 then 2022 so that is why I am questioning this.  The earned income is from self employment only in 2023 as compared to having both W2/self employment income.  There does not seem to be an issue with the amount of income for the calculation. One child was taking college classes in 2022 and 20223 age 19 turned 20 in 2023 and another is a senior in high school but turned 18 in 2023. The student taking college classes did not get financial aid in 2023 because they filed the application late. I learned that she is considered disabled for work but selecting that indicator did not change the result of the credits. So it looks like there are only two eligible dependents for the earned income credit and child tax credit compared to 3 in 2022.  In my logic the refunds should be 1/3 less.  So that is the only thing different this year.  Without understanding the calculation and knowing if the the level of the credits changed 2022 to 2023 the result seems wrong. There is another child involved that is shared custody and they have a verbal agreement to alternate years to be claimed. The father pays child support.  I added this child to the return and no change to the credits.