us child tax credit

 Child tax credit is granted by the federal government to families with children under 17 years old. The credit is intended to lessen the tax burden of families by giving back all or part of the tax withheld during the year.

Children qualified for credit must be:

1. Son, daughter, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child
2. Brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or their descendants
3. Foster child placed by an authorized agency
4. The child has lived with the family for more than 6 months of the taxable year
5. The child must have either a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN)

An exception to Item 4 is that a non-custodial parent can claim credit for a dependent child according to the settlement terms of a divorce or separation. But the credit applies only to Child Tax Credit and not the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Each child can be granted $1,000 credit, refundable partly for families with incomes over $11,750 under certain conditions. The credit is phased in as income goes over the figure, but phases out starting at $110,000 income in a joint filing; half that if married and filing separately, and $75,000 filing as head of household, single or widow/widower. Taking other credits would also affect that for the children.

Additional children also get tax credit, but this is usually the smaller of the non-refundable part of the credit, or 15% of the taxpayer’s earned income over a threshold amount adjusted annually. For last taxable year, it is $11,750.

Parents with three or more children can get more, possibly up to the amount of Social Security taxes paid for the year minus the earned income.

us child tax credit

us child tax credit

us child tax credit