<prompt> Human: So I just finished my taxes last night I had them completed a couple months ago, but had to wait for a corrected form from Fidelity to finish them. With all of my deductions and credits, I got a nice return. I qualified for the Child Tax Credit, however because I was already getting a return I did not fully benefit from it because it is not a refundable credit. Thus is would have been better for me to pay 0 in taxes throughout the year. I try to have my exemptions correct but I guess it didnt quite work out this past year and I paid too much throughout the year.So, my question is, what is the risk of not paying any taxes during the year and just waiting until I file to pay if necessary? Thanks!Assistant: because I was already getting a return I did not fully benefit from it because it is not a refundable credit. Thus is would have been better for me to pay 0 in taxes throughout the year.No, thats not how it works. Refundable means over and above your tax liability Line 61, Total Tax, not your amount owed Line 76, Amount You Owe. You already paid no income taxes i.e. you were refunded 100 of your income tax withholdings so you do not get the benefit of nonrefundable credits. Human: Ahhh, okay. Thank you for clearing that up. So being refundable has nothing to do with how much Ive already paid.Example: I owe 2,000 in taxes but Ive paid 3,000 throughout the year. I then receive a 1,000 Child Tax Credit.Would I receive a 2,000 refund?  <response>: It helps to go through the Child Tax Credit worksheet on pg 4546 by hand. In your example, you would receive a 1000 refund, because your tentative federal income tax of 2000 is reduced by the child tax credit to 1000, and you had 2000 withheld. But, lets say you also had education credits Line 49 of 2000. Now, your tax, for purposes of calculating the CTC is equal to zero, so you dont get to claim the CTC. However, your refund is 2000 because you have a tax of zero and withholdings of 2000.In case 2, youd have to determine then if you can claim the additional child tax credit Sch 8812 which is refundable. Lets say you are eligible for an additional child tax credit of 500 in case 2. Well, then your refund will be 2500. Not only did you not pay any income taxes, the government gave you a subsidy payment of 500 this, like the earned income tax credit, is a way to essentially subsidize your payroll tax obligations.Edit: You changed your example while I was typing this, so heres the analysis for the edited example:Tax2000CTC1000New Tax 1000WH 3000Refund 2000Stop even thinking about your withholdings in this analysis; the amount you had withheld has nothing to do with your child tax credit. 