The child tax credit in 2026: who qualifies and how much

The child tax credit is one of the largest numbers on a family's return, and one of the easiest to get slightly wrong. Most of the mistakes are not about the amount. They are about the tests: the child's age on December 31, a Social Security number issued a few weeks too late, or income that crossed a line nobody was watching. This page walks through the 2026 credit the way we would explain it at a kitchen table: who counts, how much, what part can come back as a refund, where it shrinks, and the smaller credit for everyone else in the house.

The amounts for 2026

For 2026 the credit is up to $2,200 for each qualifying child. ³ Part of that can be refundable, meaning it can come back to you even if you owe no income tax: up to $1,700 per child, through what the forms call the additional child tax credit. ¹

For a dependent who is not a qualifying child, there is a separate credit for other dependents of up to $500 each. That one is not refundable. ¹

All three are claimed on Schedule 8812, attached to Form 1040, with each child and dependent listed on the return. ¹

Who is a qualifying child

The IRS lists the tests, and a child has to pass all of them. ¹

• Age. Under 17 at the end of the tax year. A child who turns 17 on December 31 does not count for that year. This is the test that quietly ends the credit for the year a teenager turns 17, even though they still live at home.
• Relationship. Your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother or half-sister, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild, niece or nephew.
• Support. The child did not provide more than half of their own support for the year.
• Residency. The child lived with you for more than half the year.
• Dependent. You claim the child as a dependent on your return.
• Joint return. The child generally does not file a joint return for the year, unless it was only to claim a refund of withheld or estimated tax.
• Citizenship. The child is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or U.S. resident alien.

These sit on top of the general dependency rules in the Form 1040 instructions, which the Schedule 8812 instructions send you to first. ²

The Social Security number rules

This is where the law changed recently, and where a return can lose the credit for a paperwork reason.

The child's number. The child needs a Social Security number that is valid for employment, issued before the due date of the return, including extensions. ² A child with an ITIN instead does not qualify for the child tax credit, though they may still count for the credit for other dependents.

Your number. The Schedule 8812 instructions say that beginning in tax year 2025, you must have a valid Social Security number to claim the child tax credit or the additional child tax credit. On a joint return, only one spouse must have one; the other needs a Social Security number or an ITIN issued on or before the due date. ² The statute says the same thing in its own words: on a joint return, the number of at least one spouse. ³

If a number is in process for a newborn, the date it is issued matters. A number that arrives after the return's due date, including extensions, is too late for that year.

The refundable part

A credit can only reduce tax you owe. If the regular child tax credit is larger than your income tax, the leftover can come back as the additional child tax credit, up to the per-child cap above. ²

Two things limit it. First, you need earned income of at least $2,500. ¹ Second, the refundable amount is built from a share of your earned income above that floor, so a family with modest wages may get less than the cap. ³ Schedule 8812 does the arithmetic. Families with three or more qualifying children have an alternative calculation in the statute that uses excess Social Security tax. ³

The credit for other dependents has no refundable part. If there is no tax to reduce, the instructions say you cannot take either credit, though you may still get the additional child tax credit if you are claiming the child tax credit. ²

One practical note: if you claim the additional child tax credit, the IRS generally cannot issue the refund before mid-February. ¹

The phaseout

The full credit is available up to a modified AGI of $400,000 on a joint return and $200,000 for every other filing status. ² Above that, the total of your child tax credit and credit for other dependents drops by $50 for each 1,000 of income over the line, or fraction of 1,000. ³

That "or fraction" matters: going even slightly into a new thousand counts as the whole thousand. ³

What to gather

• Each child's Social Security card, and the date any new number was issued.
• Your own and your spouse's numbers (or ITIN, for the spouse who does not need a Social Security number on a joint return).
• Where each child lived during the year, and for how long.
• Your modified AGI, or the pieces of it, if you are near the phaseout line.