Child Tax Credit

The Child Tax Credit allows you to reduce your income tax burden by up to $1,000 per qualifying child, depending on your income.

A qualifying child must be under the age of 17 at the end of the tax year and must also be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of these. Furthermore, the child must not have provided over half of his own support, you must claim the child as a dependent on your tax return, the child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien, and must have lived with you for more than half of the year.

The credit phases out after a certain level of income, $110,000 for those married filing jointly, $55,000 for those married filing separately, and $75,000 for everyone else. Note that the Child Tax Credit only limits the amount of income tax you owe and will not result in a refund. If, however, your Child Tax Credit exceeds the amount of tax you owe, you may be eligible to claim the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit.