@NCperson wrote:
@Opus 17 , eh, maybe it's the wording, but "to get any credit at all" , you are not required to "owe at least some tax".
The question is from a person with no earned income. Suppose $25,000 of taxable unearned income (like unemployment compensation or a lottery prize). The 2024 HOH standard deduction is $21,900, so they would have $3,100 of taxable income in the 10% bracket and have a $310 taxable liability. That is the amount of child tax credit/dependent credit they could get, $310. No more than the tax they owe (their tax liability). (I was slightly off with saying "about $20,000" since I didn't realize how high the standard deduction was for HOH.)
You are correct that if they have earned income, they would be eligible for the ACTC and also EITC in an amount larger than their tax liability. But that's not what I was talking about.
