Most recently, at the end of 2017, Congress expanded the credit as part of P.L. 115-97, often referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or TCJA. The law significantly expanded eligibility for and the amount of the credit for many higher-income taxpayers, with a more modest expansion for lower-income taxpayers.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), with efforts led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ivanka Trump, made three major changes to the CTC: It doubled the amount per qualifying child to $2,000. It made up to $1,400 of the credit refundable.
President Donald Trump signed his "big beautiful" spending bill into law on July 4. One provision is an increase to the maximum child tax credit, raising it from $2,000 per eligible child to $2,200 beginning in 2026.
The new Child Tax Credit is in addition to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (tax credits President Clinton protected during the balanced budget negotiations). President Clinton also expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit to give 15 million working families tax relief.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 doubled the tax credit to $2,000 and made limits to the refundable amount of up to $1,400 per child. It also introduced phaseout thresholds and rates for higher-income taxpayers.
The American Rescue Plan increased the child tax credit (CTC) for 2021.
In 1987, Congress created a bipartisan National Commission on Children tasked with developing policies for the benefit of children and families. Its final report included many policy ideas, including what would eventually become the Child Tax Credit.
They overwhelmingly opposed Democrats' expansion of the credit that provided families with monthly checks to pay bills and cut childhood poverty in half. Faced with this life-changing data, they refused to help us extend the expanded benefit and allowed it to expire.
The American Rescue Plan Act – which President Biden signed into law in 2021– included a revolutionary expansion of the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC).
North-West vs South-East divide in family benefits
In general, family benefits per person are highest in Northern and Western Europe, and lowest in the South and East. After Luxembourg, Nordic countries top the list: Norway (€2,277), Denmark (€1,878), Iceland (€1,874), Sweden (€1,449), and Finland (€1,440).
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated in 2018 that the 2017 law would cost $1.9 trillion over ten years, and recent estimates show that making the law's temporary individual income and estate tax cuts permanent would cost roughly another $4.2 trillion through 2035.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was legislation passed by the 115th Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump.
The bottom 99% also saw an average federal tax rate increase by one percentage point from 2012 to 2013, mainly due to the expiration of the Obama payroll tax cuts, which were in place in 2011 and 2012. However, for income groups in the bottom 99%, the average federal tax rate remained at or below the 2007 level.
Your child tax credit is likely $500 instead of $2,000 because they either turned 17 during the tax year, making them eligible for the Other Dependent Credit, or you might have mistakenly checked a box in your tax software, like saying their SSN isn't valid for employment or that they paid over half their own support, which triggers the lower credit amount, according to TurboTax support, TurboTax support, TurboTax support, and TurboTax support https://ttlc.intuit.index.php/community/taxes/discussion/my-daughter-is-17-but-is-still-jr-in-high-school-why-do-i-only-get-500-for-her-and-not-the-full-2000/00/3423950.
You lose the Child Tax Credit (CTC) at age 17 because federal tax law specifies the credit applies to children under age 17 at the end of the tax year; once a child turns 17, they "age out" of this specific credit, though they might qualify for the smaller Credit for Other Dependents ($500) or remain a standard dependent for other tax benefits. This age cutoff isn't based on student status or living situation (which allow them to remain dependents), but is a strict IRS rule for the CTC.
The Child Tax Credit was created by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It began in 1998 as a maximum credit of $400 per qualifying child. The new law accelerates a previously scheduled increase of the maximum credit to $1,000 per child, effective for 2003 and 2004.
The American Rescue Plan increased the child tax credit to $3,000 per child age seven or older and $3,600 per kids six and younger. It also raised the age limit of eligible children from 16 to 17 years old.
The Child Tax Credit was created in 1997, providing $400 per child in 1998 (about $725 in 2023 dollars) and $500 per child (about $875 in 2023 dollars) in the immediate years after that. Under Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump, the Child Tax Credit gradually increased to $2,000 per child.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) made the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes permanent, increased the maximum CTC amount from $2,000 per child to $2,200 per child beginning in 2025, and adjusted the maximum credit for inflation beginning in 2026.
Newt Gingrich and his Congress passed the very first Child Tax Credit, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1997. Incremental improvements were made to the credit under presidents George W. Bush (2001), Barack Obama (2009) and Donald Trump (2017). In that tradition of bipartisanship, the House passed H.R.
Senate Democrats Just Voted Against Lower Taxes, Higher Pay, National Security, and More. The One Big Beautiful Bill just PASSED the U.S. Senate, moving the landmark legislation one step closer to President Donald J. Trump's desk — and once again, it was done without the support of a single Democrat.
President Abraham Lincoln started the first U.S. income tax in 1861 to fund the Civil War, but it was temporary; the modern, permanent income tax system was established under President Woodrow Wilson with the ratification of the 16th Amendment in 1913, which gave Congress the power to levy income taxes without apportionment.
The Joe Manchin failure, and the larger failure
There's a very simple answer to why the child credit didn't continue: there weren't 50 senators willing to support its extension. And most public reporting suggests the main holdout was Sen. Joe Manchin.
Here are some details about this credit: The maximum amount of the credit is $2,000 per qualifying child. Taxpayers who are eligible to claim this credit must list the name and Social Security number for each dependent on their tax return.