What years can I claim the ctc without being employed?

[NCperson]

@dareelcmills2k19 you can't.   To be eligible for CTC, you must have earned income of at least $2500.

There was no income requirement in 2021 and that year only, but the window to claim a refund for 2021 has now closed. 

[xmasbaby0]

There was one year---and only that one tax year-- for which you could get the child tax credit without income earned from working---that was tax year 2021.   For all other tax years, you cannot get the CTC unless you have income earned from working.

[AmeliesUncle]

To clarify the prior answers, 2021 (which is past the date to get a refund, unless you filed an extension for the 2021 return) was the only year to get the REFUNDABLE Child Tax Credit without 'earned' income.

For the other years, if you had other income that resulted in income tax, you can still claim the Child Tax Credit to offset that income tax.  But without any 'earned income (such as a W-2 or self-employment income) only any withholding you had would be refunded to you; you can't get any Child Tax Credit "refunded" to you except for 2021.

[NCperson]

to further clarify, 

if you did not work, then it would take unearned income that exceeds the standard deduction to be eligible for CTC.   Let's say you file Head of Household.  The 2024 standard deduction was $21,900. So to be eligible for CTC, you would need more than $21,900 of unearned income to be eligible for the first dollar of CTC. 

if you did work, then it would take more than $2500 of earned income to be eligible for the first dollar of CTC (and technically, it would be the refundable aCTC).