For qualifying dependents who are not a qualifying child (called “qualifying relatives” in tax law), the person's gross income for the 2023 tax year must be below $4,700 (for 2023). For qualifying relatives, they must get more than half of their financial support from you.
Age requirement: Your child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
You can claim the Child Tax Credit by entering your children and other dependents on Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, and attaching a completed Schedule 8812, Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents.
A2. To claim the credit, you will need to complete Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, and include the form when you file your Federal income tax return. In completing the form to claim the credit, you will need to provide a valid taxpayer identification number (TIN) for each qualifying person.
In some cases, a taxpayer qualifies and gets less than the full credit. These taxpayers must have earned income of at least $2,500 to receive a refund, even if they owe no tax, with the additional child tax credit. The credit begins to phase out at $200,000 of modified adjusted gross income.
You can claim a child who works as a dependent if they still meet the requirements to be a qualifying child – including the age, relationship, residency, and support tests.
Tax credit per child for 2024
The maximum tax credit per qualifying child is $2,000 for children under 17. For the refundable portion of the credit (or the additional child tax credit), you may receive up to $1,700 per qualifying child.
Even if someone else, like a parent, claims you on their own tax return, you may still be required to file your own return.
Good Reasons
If your income disqualifies you from claiming these credits, your child's income probably doesn't disqualify him or her. Therefore, your child may be able to report payment of education expenses for tax purposes and then claim one of the credits – but only if you don't claim him or her as a dependent.
Yes, you may claim the child tax credit (CTC)/additional child tax credit (ACTC) or credit for other dependents (ODC) as well as the child and dependent care credit on your return if you qualify for those credits.
For 2024 (taxes filed in 2025), the child tax credit is worth up to $2,000 per qualifying dependent child. The refundable portion, also known as the additional child tax credit, is worth up to $1,700.
If you're a dependent on someone else's return
You can be claimed as a dependent and still need to file your own tax return. Your filing requirement depends on your income, marital status and other criteria. Find details on filing requirements for dependents.
Changes to Certain Benefits
The five dependency tests – relationship, gross income, support, joint return and citizenship/residency – continue to apply to a qualifying relative. A child who is not a qualifying child might still be a dependent as a qualifying relative.
You can't claim the EIC unless your investment income is $11,600 or less. If your investment income is more than $11,600, you can't claim the credit. Use Worksheet 1 in this chapter to figure your investment income.
It's up to you and your spouse. You might decide that the parent who gets the biggest tax benefit should claim the child. If you can't agree, however, the dependency claim goes to your spouse because your son lived with her for more of the year than he lived with you.
Final answer:
Claiming the Child and Other Dependent Tax Credit reduces tax liability for parents by offering financial relief per child. This credit can be delivered as monthly payments, allowing families to manage monthly expenses more effectively.
To meet the qualifying child test, your child must be younger than you or your spouse if filing jointly and either younger than 19 years old or be a "student" younger than 24 years old as of the end of the calendar year.
To claim a child's income on a parent's tax return, the child needs to be considered a qualifying child dependent of the parent. Parents can use IRS Form 8814 to elect to report their child's income on their tax return instead of the child filing their own return.
There is no age limit for how long you can claim adult children or other relatives as dependents, but they must meet other IRS requirements to continue to qualify. Additionally, once they are over 18 and no longer a student, they can only qualify as an "other dependent," not a qualifying child.
The credit is reduced by 5 percent of adjusted gross income over $200,000 for single parents ($400,000 for married couples). If the credit exceeds taxes owed, taxpayers can receive up to $1,600 of the balance as a refund, known as the additional child tax credit (ACTC) or refundable CTC.
The current Child Tax Credit offers a tax break of up to $2,000 per child, but only a portion of it is refundable. If a tax credit is refundable, it means that a person can still get the credit even if they do not owe any federal income tax.