The Child Tax Credit is dependent on several factors including the age of the child and the income of the taxpayer claiming the child.
Requirements
Age Limit
The age limit is UNDER age 17. If your child turns 17 on any date in 2024, the child does not qualify for the credit.
Income Limits
You must have earned income of at least $2,500.
Income thresholds are:
- Single and Head of Household filers - $200,000
- Married filing joint filers - $400,000
No Credit calculating?
If you meet the requirements above, here are some other items to check:
Check the Dependent Information
In the Basic Information section, view each dependent.
- Check the date of birth is entered correctly
- Is the child marked as a US citizen, US national or resident US alien?
- What is the relationship of the child
- How long did the child live in your home?
Check the Summary
Check the Summary/Print section of the return.
- How much earned income is reported on the return? Earned income includes wages and salaries, self-employment income, tips, bonuses and commissions
- Look under the Tax and Credits tab for Child tax credit.
- To see if you received the Additional Child Tax Credit, view the Payments tab (Additional child tax credit).
Calculation
- If your income is over the threshold, the child tax credit will begin to phase out or decrease at a rate of $50 for every $1,000 your income exceeds the limit.
- The maximum amount of the Child Tax Credit in 2024 is $2,000 per qualifying child under the age of 17.
- The credit is first used to lower your tax liability to $0. Then, if you have not used the whole credit amount, you may qualify for the refundable portion of the credit. Up to $1,700 of the credit is potentially refundable.
- To estimate how much of the refundable portion of the credit you would receive, you can use the following equation:
(Your salary – 2,500) x .15