Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level hasn't changed

dborden89 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 03:06:34 GMT

Re: Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level ...

MaxA1 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 03:35:20 GMT

This may be because your tax amount on line 16 of your 1040 is $0 or a very small amount (less than $500). The maximum Child Tax Credit (CTC) for your 2 year-old is $2,200, but the refundable amount is $1,700. So if your tax (on line 16) is $0, the most you will get from the CTC is $1,700. Additionally, you need to have at least $2,500 of earned income to qualify for the $1,700 refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit (aka Additional Child Tax Credit, or ACTC). The following links provide more information on the Child Tax Credit and its requirements needed to qualify:

Re: Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level ...

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:21:00 GMT

Have you entered income from working in 2025? If not, you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2200 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1700. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working.

Take the amount you earned from working. Subtract $2500. Multiply the rest by 15%. That is the additional child tax credit per child that you canget—- up to the maximum of $1700 per child. If the amount you earned from working was low, you will not get the full $1700 per child.

If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2025, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/child-tax-credit/L2lNhfGDl_US_en_US?uid=m68dfq2u

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/additional-child-tax-credit/L6xFeMFEf_US_en_US?uid=lqnuygah

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-for-other-dependents

And for the Earned Income Credit—-

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/qualifications-earned-income-credit-eic-eitc/L7w4BFP32_US_en_US?uid=m62rmz09

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf

Look at your 2025 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/preview-turbotax-online-return-filing/L77WCkvnu_US_en_US?uid=m681fkhr

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

topic Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level hasn't changed in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level hasn't changed

Re: Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level ...

Re: Why is my child tax credit lower this year than last year? My son is only 2 and income level ...