Child Tax Credit Calculator
US Child Tax Credit for 2026, worked line by line as Schedule 8812: USD 2,200 per child, up to USD 1,700 refundable, USD 500 per other dependent and the phase-out.
Child Tax Credit Calculator
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Compute the US Child Tax Credit (CTC, USD 2,200 per qualifying child under 17) + Additional CTC (refundable portion up to USD 1,700) + Other Dependent Credit (USD 500/non-CTC dependent). Income phase-out at high AGI included.
How to Use the Child Tax Credit Calculator
Count qualifying children
A qualifying child is under 17 at the end of the year; is your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, sibling or a descendant of one of them; lived with you for more than half the year; did not provide more than half of their own support; is claimed as your dependent; and does not file a joint return. The child needs a Social Security number valid for work, issued by the return's due date, and since the 2025 law so do you (or at least one spouse on a joint return).
Count "other dependents" separately
Other dependents earn USD 500 each instead of USD 2,200. This covers qualifying children aged 17 or over, children without the required Social Security number, and qualifying relatives such as a parent you support. They must be a U.S. citizen, national or resident alien.
Check phase-out at higher income
The credit falls by USD 50 for each USD 1,000, or part of USD 1,000, of income above USD 200,000 (USD 400,000 married filing jointly). Use line 11a of Form 1040. With two children and no other dependents the credit runs out at USD 288,000 single or USD 488,000 joint; the calculator gives the exact figure for your family.
Distinguish refundable vs non-refundable
The credit first reduces your tax. If your tax is smaller, part of what is left can be paid to you as the additional child tax credit: the least of USD 1,700 per child, the unused credit, and 15% of earned income above USD 2,500. Enter your tax before credits as the "federal tax liability" figure.
The Child Tax Credit — A Big Tax Benefit for US Families
The amounts for 2026
The 2025 budget law, Public Law 119-21 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), set the child tax credit at USD 2,200 per qualifying child for 2025, made it permanent and indexed it to inflation. The IRS inflation figures for 2026, in Rev. Proc. 2025-32, keep the maximum at USD 2,200 and set the refundable part at USD 1,700 per child. Dependents who do not qualify for the child credit can still bring a USD 500 credit for other dependents.
How Schedule 8812 works it out
This calculator follows the lines of Schedule 8812. It adds USD 2,200 per qualifying child and USD 500 per other dependent (line 8). It then takes off the phase-out: income above USD 200,000, or USD 400,000 on a joint return, rounded up to the next USD 1,000, times 5% (lines 9 to 11). What is left (line 12) is limited to your tax (line 14). If any credit is still unused, up to USD 1,700 per child of it can be refunded, but no more than 15% of earned income above USD 2,500 (lines 16 to 20).
The order matters. The unused amount on line 16a counts the other-dependent credit too, so a family with little tax and an older dependent can get more back than a calculation that looks at the child credit alone. Until 1 October 2026 this page made exactly that mistake: one child, one other dependent and USD 1,000 of tax came out at USD 2,200, where Schedule 8812 gives USD 2,700.
"No credit shall be allowed under this section to a taxpayer with respect to any qualifying child unless the taxpayer includes on the return of tax for the taxable year— the taxpayer's social security number (or, in the case of a joint return, the social security number of at least 1 spouse), and the social security number of such qualifying child."
26 U.S.C. §24(h)(7), as amended by Public Law 119-21The Social Security number rule
The child has needed a Social Security number valid for employment since 2018. The 2025 law adds the parent: the taxpayer's own number must be on the return, or on a joint return the number of at least one spouse, and it must be issued by the return's due date. A child with only an ITIN cannot bring the child tax credit, but can bring the USD 500 credit for other dependents if they are a U.S. citizen, national or resident alien, according to the IRS.
Three or more children
For families with three or more children, Part II-B of Schedule 8812 offers a second way to work out the refundable amount, based on social security and Medicare taxes withheld. When that could give more than the 15% earned-income figure, this calculator says so rather than guessing. Tax software, or the IRS Free File service, will complete it from your W-2s.
Schedule 8812 line by line, with the 2026 figures
The maximum child tax credit for 2026 is USD 2,200 per qualifying child (Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Up to USD 1,700 per child can be refunded in 2026 as the additional child tax credit.
Each other dependent brings a USD 500 credit, which can reduce tax but is never refunded.
The phase-out starts at USD 200,000 of income, or USD 400,000 on a joint return.
Each USD 1,000 over the threshold, or part of it, costs USD 50: USD 1 over loses USD 50.
Two children's USD 4,400 lasts until USD 288,000 single or USD 488,000 joint, not USD 240,000 / 440,000.
The refundable part is limited to 15% of earned income above USD 2,500.
Since the 2025 law the parent needs a Social Security number too, or at least one spouse on a joint return.
The 2025 law made the USD 2,200 credit permanent and indexed to inflation.
A qualifying relative other than a child must have gross income under USD 5,300 in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
- The IRS lists the tests: under 17 at the end of the year; your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-sibling, or a descendant of any of them (a grandchild, niece or nephew); did not provide more than half of their own support; lived with you for more than half the year; claimed as your dependent; does not file a joint return except to claim a refund; and a U.S. citizen, national or resident alien. The child also needs a Social Security number valid for employment, issued by the return's due date.
- The child tax credit reduces your income tax. If your tax is smaller than the credit, Schedule 8812 lets part of what is left be paid to you as the additional child tax credit (ACTC): the least of the unused credit, USD 1,700 per child for 2026, and 15% of your earned income above USD 2,500. The unused amount includes any credit for other dependents, but the USD 1,700 cap counts only qualifying children.
- It starts at USD 200,000 of income, or USD 400,000 married filing jointly. Each USD 1,000 above that, or part of USD 1,000, removes USD 50 of credit. The credit runs out at the threshold plus USD 20 for every USD 1 of credit: one child at USD 244,000 single or USD 444,000 joint, two children at USD 288,000 or USD 488,000. Other dependents add to the amount being phased out.
- A child aged 17 or over at the end of the year cannot bring the child tax credit, but can bring the USD 500 credit for other dependents if they are still your dependent. Whether they are depends on the dependency tests: an older student may still be a qualifying child for dependency purposes, and otherwise a qualifying relative must have gross income under USD 5,300 in 2026 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) and meet the support test.
- No. Public Law 119-21, signed on 4 July 2025, removed the end date from the expanded credit, set it at USD 2,200 per child from 2025 and indexed it to inflation from 2026. The USD 200,000 and USD 400,000 phase-out thresholds remain.
- The earned income tax credit is a separate, fully refundable credit for working people on lower incomes. For 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the maximum at USD 8,231 with three or more children, USD 7,316 with two and USD 4,427 with one, and for married couples filing jointly with three or more children it phases out completely at USD 70,244. Many families can claim both credits; each has its own rules.
- Not for the child tax credit, which needs a Social Security number valid for employment issued by the return's due date. They may qualify for the USD 500 credit for other dependents, which accepts a Social Security number, ITIN or ATIN, provided the dependent is a U.S. citizen, national or resident alien. Since the 2025 law the parent claiming the child tax credit also needs a Social Security number, or at least one spouse on a joint return.
- No. Only the parent who claims the child as a dependent can claim the credit for that child, usually the parent the child lived with for more than half the year. A custodial parent can release the claim to the other parent with Form 8332. Agree it in advance: if both parents claim the same child, the IRS will question one of the returns.
- Net earnings from self-employment count as earned income for the refundable part, the same as wages. The credit itself does not depend on how the income was earned.
- On Schedule 8812, attached to Form 1040. Tax software and the IRS Free File service complete it from the dependents, income and tax already on your return. This calculator follows the same lines, so you can check the result before you file.
Method & sources
What this tool implements
- The page computed the refundable part on the child credit alone and let the other-dependent credit use only the tax left after it. Schedule 8812 line 16a is line 12 minus line 14, i.e. CTC and ODC combined: one child, one other dependent and $1,000 of tax gives $2,700, the page gave $2,200. The kernel's 15 tests include that control.
- The page said every family is fully phased out at $240,000 single / $440,000 joint. That is near the one-child figure ($244,000); two children last to $288,000 / $488,000. Two result rows shared an id with the hero, so the breakdown never filled in.
- Added the 2025 law's rule that the taxpayer (or at least one spouse) needs an SSN, quoted from §24(h)(7). Removed: a $100B+ CTC+EITC figure, a '$75K family owes $4,000-6,000' pull-quote, and a qualifying-relative gross income test applied to qualifying children.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32: inflation-adjusted items for 2026 (§3.05 child tax credit; §3.06 earned income credit; §3.23 qualifying relative; §3.42 gift exclusion). https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-25-32.pdf
- Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 8812 (Form 1040), Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents, 2025. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040s8.pdf
- Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit. https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/child-tax-credit
- Public Law 119-21 (One Big Beautiful Bill Act), 4 July 2025, §§70104 and 70413. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/pdf/PLAW-119pu…
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