Are tax refund and tax return the same thing?

I need some help/information regarding refund taxes (mailing & child tax credit)? Please help :)?

• Due to a sad personal situation my dad no longer lives with us (he was the one who provided our complete income and did the taxes) so my mom was forced to find a job and now she has to file the refund tax thingie. Anyway, neither she or I really understood it but I tried filing hers online and believe I completed everything correctly but there are two things I'm curious about, and I'd appreciate any help (please don't laugh at me, it's my first time doing this lol). 1)I had the option to e-file/send them so we can receive them as a direct deposit but we opted for the paper/mail filing. There are three options one being print federal and state, print federal only, and print state. Which am I supposed to chose? Do I have to mail the returns to both the federal and state? Or just to one? If to both, do I have the mail the exact same thing(copies)? Where do I mail them (we're located in California)? 2)I set up the alert thingie and one alert said this : Dependent ---- was 18 years old at the end of 2011 and did not qualify for the Child Tax Credit on the return. Dependents must be under age 17 at the end of the tax year 2011 in order to qualify for the child tax credit. ---- will still qualify as an exemption in your return which will result in a reduction of your income in the amount of $3,700. ---- will still qualify as a dependent for purposes of the earned income credit on Schedule EIC, if that schedule is used in your return. Can you explain that in simple terms? So basically, I didn't qualify and there's no credit for me in the refund? Thanks for any help :).

• Answer:

  There is no child tax credit for you but the exemption still counts which lowers taxable income. You efile both federal and california. They are different forms. You can mail them in but it will take longer.