The Child Tax credit is a non refundable credit worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child. This means, that for this year, the nonrefundable Child Tax Credit will lower your tax liability down to $0. So if your tax liability on line 18 is $1,300, you would only be eligible for $1,300 of the Child Tax Credit. In order to qualify for this credit, you must have a qualifying child, have a tax liability to be reduced by the credit and have income of less than $200,000 if single and $400,000 if married filing jointly. If your income is greater than these limits, the credit is phased out gradually.
If you do not have a high enough tax liability to claim the credit, then you may be eligible for the Additional Child Tax Credit. This credit, is the refundable portion of the child tax credit. It is worth up to $1,600 per child.
You cannot claim these credits if your filing status is married filing separately, unless you have lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year. It is calculated by taking subtracting $2,500 from your income and then multiplying that number by 15%.
A few things you can check if you think you should have received the child tax credit and you didn't or think you did not receive the correct amount.
- Double check your entries starting with the personal info section making sure you have entered all information including social security numbers for your kids.
- Did your child live with you for 6 months or more during the year? If not, you do not qualify. If your child was born during the tax year, you will need to select that they lived with you for the entire year.
- Did you enter your income? Did you double check your entries? You need to have income to get the credit, so if you do not have in excess of $2,500 or you have income above the phaseout, you may not qualify for the credit.
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