How Much Is the Child Tax Credit? (2025–2026 Guide)

Quick Answer

For the 2025 and 2026 tax years, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child. If the credit is larger than the tax you owe, up to $1,700 per child of that amount can come back to you as a refund through the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC). Dependents who don't qualify for the CTC (like older teens or elderly parents you support) may still qualify for the Credit for Other Dependents (ODC), worth up to $500 each.

The full amount isn't guaranteed to everyone, though. How much you actually get depends on your income, how many qualifying children you have, and how much you owe in taxes. Here's exactly how the numbers work.

Child Tax Credit Amounts at a Glance

Starting in 2026, the maximum CTC amount will be adjusted for inflation each year, so it may creep up slightly in future filing seasons.

How the $2,200 Credit Is Calculated

Your starting point is simple: multiply your number of qualifying children by $2,200.

Example: A married couple with 3 qualifying children starts with a base credit of $6,600 (3 × $2,200).

From there, two things can reduce that amount:

1. Your income is above the phase-out threshold
2. Your tax bill is smaller than your credit, which caps how much comes back as a refund (more on this below)

The Income Phase-Out

The credit stays at its full amount as long as your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is:

1. $200,000 or less for single filers and heads of household
2. $400,000 or less for married couples filing jointly

If your income is above that threshold, the credit is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) your MAGI exceeds the limit. If the excess isn't an even multiple of $1,000, it gets rounded up before the reduction is calculated.

Example: A married couple with 4 qualifying children has a MAGI of $412,500, which is $12,500 over the $400,000 threshold. Since $12,500 isn't a clean multiple of $1,000, it rounds up to $13,000. The base credit of $8,800 (4 × $2,200) is reduced by $650 (13 × $50), leaving a final credit of $8,150.

At high enough incomes, the phase-out can reduce the credit all the way to $0, though it takes a very large family income to get there for most households.

How Much Can You Get Back as a Refund?

This is where a lot of people get confused. The Child Tax Credit itself is non-refundable: it can only reduce the tax you owe down to $0, not send you extra money beyond that.

The Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) is the refundable piece. If your CTC is worth more than your actual tax bill, you may be able to get the difference back as a refund, up to $1,700 per child.

But the ACTC has its own limits:

1. You need at least $2,500 in earned income for the year to qualify at all (wages, salary, tips, or self-employment income)
2. The refundable amount generally can't exceed 15% of your earned income above $2,500
3. Families with three or more qualifying children may be able to use an alternative calculation that can increase this limit

Example: If you earned $30,000 for the year, your ACTC ceiling would be 15% of ($30,000 − $2,500) = $4,125, even if your calculated credit is technically higher.

If you claim the ACTC, expect your refund to arrive later than usual. By law, the IRS can't issue these refunds before mid-February, and that delay applies to your entire refund, not just the ACTC portion.

What If My Child Doesn't Qualify for the Full Credit?

Not every dependent qualifies for the $2,200 CTC. If your dependent is 17 or older, or is someone other than your child (like a parent you support), they may still qualify for the Credit for Other Dependents (ODC), worth up to $500, though it's non-refundable and phases out using the same income thresholds as the CTC.

This commonly applies to:

1. Teens who turned 17 before the end of the tax year
2. College students ages 18–23 who are full-time students for at least 5 months of the year
3. Elderly parents or other relatives who qualify as your dependent

Who Qualifies for the Child Tax Credit?

To claim the full CTC, your child generally needs to meet all of the following at the end of the tax year:

1. Age: under 17
2. Relationship: your child, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or a descendant of one of these (grandchild, niece, nephew)
3. Residency: lived with you for more than half the year
4. Support: didn't provide more than half of their own financial support
5. Dependency: is claimed as a dependent on your return
6. Citizenship: U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien
7. Social Security number: has an SSN valid for employment, issued before your return's due date

As of the 2025 tax year, the taxpayer claiming the credit also needs a valid SSN (for joint filers, at least one spouse must have one), a requirement added by recent legislation.

Recent Changes to the Credit

The Child Tax Credit has changed several times over the past few years, which is part of why the "how much" question doesn't have a single permanent answer:

1. 2021 (temporary): Expanded to $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for children 6–17, fully refundable, with monthly advance payments; this expired after one year.
2. 2018–2025 (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act): Set the credit at $2,000 per child, with up to $1,700 refundable (after inflation adjustments), and added the SSN requirement for children.
3. 2025 onward (One Big Beautiful Bill Act): Made the TCJA-era rules permanent, raised the maximum credit to $2,200 per child, and added inflation indexing starting in 2026.

Because the rules have moved around so much, it's worth double-checking the current-year amounts each filing season rather than relying on what you remember from a prior year's return.

How to Claim the Credit

You claim the CTC, ACTC, and ODC together using Schedule 8812 ("Credits for Qualifying Children and Other Dependents"), attached to your Form 1040. When listing your dependents on Form 1040, you'll check a box to indicate which ones qualify for the Child Tax Credit.

FAQ

How much is the Child Tax Credit per child in 2025 and 2026?

Up to $2,200 per qualifying child, subject to income-based phase-outs.

Is the Child Tax Credit fully refundable?

No. Up to $1,700 per child can be refunded through the Additional Child Tax Credit if your credit exceeds your tax liability, but the rest of the CTC can only reduce taxes owed, not generate a refund on its own.

Do I need earned income to get the refundable portion?

Yes. You need at least $2,500 in earned income to qualify for the Additional Child Tax Credit, and the refundable amount is capped at 15% of earnings above that threshold.

At what income does the Child Tax Credit start to phase out?

$200,000 MAGI for single filers and heads of household, and $400,000 for married couples filing jointly.

Can I still get a credit if my child turned 17 during the year?

Not the full $2,200 CTC, but they may qualify for the $500 Credit for Other Dependents instead, as long as they still meet the other dependency requirements.

When will I get my refund if I claim the Additional Child Tax Credit?

The IRS is required to hold refunds that include the ACTC (or the Earned Income Tax Credit) until at least mid-February, and that hold applies to your full refund, not just the credit portion.

Sources;

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/child-tax-credit

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/Treasury-and-IRS-Announce-Families-of-Nearly-60-Million-Children-Receive-%2415-Billion-Dollars-in-First-Payments-of-Expanded-and-Newly-Advanceable-Child-Tax-Credit

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/filing/credits/child-tax-credit/