Child Tax Credit Calculator

Check whether a child brings you the child tax credit (up to $2,200, IRC §24(h)(2)), the credit for other dependents (up to $500, IRC §24(h)(4)(A)), or neither, then see how the income phase-out changes the amount. Each credit test shows pass or fail with its citation, and the phase-out follows Schedule 8812 (the IRS form you attach to Form 1040 to claim these credits) line by line.

New for 2025: you, or at least one spouse on a joint return, also need a Social Security number valid for employment. The child’s own number rule has applied since 2018.

Covers tax years 2025 and 2026 under IRC §24 as amended by Pub. L. 119-21, the Instructions for Schedule 8812 (2025), and Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Last verified 2026-09-25.

Step 1: Does this child qualify?

The first questions are the dependent tests from the dependent eligibility page. The last questions ask about Social Security numbers and other ID numbers. The dependent tests do not ask about these, but the credits do.

Tax year

This person is

Their age on December 31

Your age on December 31

On a joint return, enter the older spouse’s age.

Were they a full-time student for some part of each of 5 calendar months?

Were they permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year?

Because of a physical or mental condition, they could not do any substantial gainful activity (meaningful work for pay or profit), and a doctor determined the condition has lasted at least a year without a break, or expects it to last that long or to lead to death.

Did they live with you for more than half the year?

Temporary absences for illness, education, business, vacation, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility count as living with you. A child born or who died during the year counts if your home was the child’s home for more than half the time the child was alive; a required hospital stay after birth does not break this. A child you adopted during the year, or one that an adoption agency, a foster care agency, or a court placed with you during the year, counts if your home was the child’s main home for more than half the time since.

Did they pay for more than half of their own support?

A scholarship does not count against a student who is your child.

Did you provide more than half of their total support?

Pub. 501 Worksheet 2 walks through the arithmetic.

Their gross income for the year

All income that is not exempt from tax, before any deduction. Taxable Social Security counts.

Did they file a joint return with their own spouse?

Could they be the qualifying child of anyone else?

Someone else, such as a parent or grandparent, for whom they would pass all five qualifying child tests: related to that person; younger than that person and under 19, or a full-time student under 24, or disabled at any age; lived with that person more than half the year; did not pay over half their own support; and did not file a joint return (other than only to claim a refund). Living with someone is not enough by itself.

Can someone else claim you (or your spouse on a joint return) as a dependent?

Which of these describes them?

A U.S. resident alien is someone who is not a citizen but counts as a U.S. resident for tax purposes; Pub. 519 explains the test. A U.S. national is someone who is not a U.S. citizen but owes allegiance to the United States, such as people born in American Samoa, and people from the Northern Mariana Islands who chose to become U.S. nationals instead of citizens.

Are the child’s parents divorced, separated, or living apart?

Choose a release option only if the parents are divorced or legally separated, separated under a written agreement, or lived apart for all of the last 6 months of the year; the child received over half of their support from the parents; the child was in a parent’s custody more than half the year; and a written release (Form 8332 or similar) exists. The custodial parent is the parent the child lived with for more nights during the year, whatever a custody order says. The other parent is the noncustodial parent.

Their identifying number

A Social Security number counts only if the Social Security Administration issued it before your return’s due date, including extensions. An ITIN (a tax number the IRS gives someone who cannot get a Social Security number) or an ATIN (a temporary IRS number for a child whose adoption is not final) never counts for the child tax credit. It can count for the credit for other dependents if the IRS issued it by the due date, or if you applied by the due date and the IRS issues it from that application. If the child’s Social Security card says “not valid for employment,” choose the second option: that number does not count for the child tax credit, but it can count for the credit for other dependents.

Are you filing a joint return?

Your identifying number

Count a Social Security number only if the Social Security Administration issued it before your return’s due date, including extensions. An ITIN does not meet the child tax credit’s Social Security number rule. On a joint return, only one of you needs that Social Security number, and the other can have an ITIN. For the credit for other dependents, an ITIN counts if the IRS issued it by the due date, or if you applied by the due date and the IRS issues it from that application.

Step 2: How the income phase-out changes the amount

Your modified adjusted gross income is your AGI from Form 1040 line 11a, plus any Puerto Rico or American Samoa income you excluded and the Form 2555 amounts in the box below (Schedule 8812 lines 1 to 3). Add up the credit for every child who passes the tests and every other dependent. Then take $50 off for each $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income above $400,000 (married filing jointly) or $200,000 (every other filing status). Part of $1,000 counts as a full $1,000 (IRC §24(b)(1), (h)(3)). Enter all your children and other dependents here, not only the one checked above.

Who qualifies for the child tax credit

A child brings you the child tax credit only when every one of these is true (IRC §24(a), (c), (e), (h)(7)).

The child is your qualifying child and your dependent. The five qualifying child tests and the exceptions are on the dependent eligibility page.
The child is under 17 on December 31. The disability rule that removes the age limit for a dependent does not extend this one.
The child is a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien, or a child you adopted who lived with you all year (or the rest of the year after placement for adoption) while you are a U.S. citizen or national. A resident of Canada or Mexico can be your dependent but does not count for either credit.
The child and you (or your spouse, on a joint return) have Social Security numbers valid for employment. The next section covers the details.

If another person could also claim the child, only one of you gets the credit. You can agree on who claims, within the limits of the tie-breaker. If you both claim, the tie-breaker decides.

The Social Security number rules

IRC §24(h)(7) requires two numbers on the return. The law has required the child’s number since 2018 and requires your own starting with 2025. The Social Security Administration must issue each one before the return’s due date, including extensions, and each one must be valid for employment. If your child’s number has not arrived as the deadline nears, file Form 4868 for an extension before the due date. An extension gives you more time to file, not to pay, so pay any tax you expect to owe by the regular due date (IRC §6151(a)). If the number arrives after the due date (including extensions), an amended return does not bring back the child tax credit (Pub. 501 (2025), No SSN; Instructions for Schedule 8812 (2025), Valid SSN and Qualifying child required to have an SSN).

The child’s Social Security number. An individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) or an adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN) does not count here. If the child was born and died in the same year without one, attach a copy of the birth certificate, death certificate, or hospital records showing the child was born alive, and enter “DIED” in the child’s Social Security number box in the Dependents section of Form 1040 (Pub. 501 (2025), Born and died in 2025).
Your own Social Security number. On a joint return, one spouse’s is enough, and the other spouse needs a Social Security number or an ITIN. If you are married and only your spouse has a valid number, only a joint return gets you the child tax credit, because on a separate return your own number must qualify (IRC §24(h)(7)(A)(i)).

When a number is the wrong kind, such as an ITIN instead of a Social Security number, and the child passes every other test, the child can still count for the credit for other dependents (IRC §24(h)(4)(C)). That credit needs the child to have a Social Security number, ITIN, or ATIN, and you (and your spouse, on a joint return) to have a Social Security number or ITIN, each issued by the due date.

The credit for other dependents

You can claim up to $500 for each dependent who does not bring the child tax credit (IRC §24(h)(4)). That includes a child of 17 or 18, a full-time student under 24, a parent or other qualifying relative, and a child who misses only the Social Security number rule. The person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien (or a child you adopted who lived with you all year, or the rest of the year after placement for adoption, while you are a U.S. citizen or national), and must have a Social Security number, ITIN, or ATIN issued by your return’s due date. The same income phase-out applies, and none of it is refundable.

Common Questions

How much is the child tax credit?

Up to $2,200 for each qualifying child for 2025 (IRC §24(h)(2)), and $2,200 for 2026 (IRC §24(i)(2); Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.05(1)). The credit shrinks when your income (modified adjusted gross income: your AGI plus certain income you excluded from U.S. tax) passes $400,000 on a joint return or $200,000 on any other return (IRC §24(h)(3)).

How old can my child be?

Under 17 on December 31 of the tax year (IRC §24(c)(1)). A child who turns 17 on any day of the year, even December 31, does not qualify that year. A 17- or 18-year-old, or a full-time student under 24, can still bring you the credit for other dependents.

My child has an ITIN, not a Social Security number. Can I claim the credit?

Not the child tax credit. The child needs a Social Security number valid for employment, issued before your return’s due date (IRC §24(h)(7)). An ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number) or ATIN (adoption taxpayer identification number) does not count. A child who meets every other test but has an ITIN or ATIN can get the credit for other dependents instead, up to $500, if the IRS issued that number by your return’s due date or issues it from an application you made by then (IRC §24(h)(4)(C); Instructions for Schedule 8812 (2025), Dependent required to have a TIN).

Do I need a Social Security number too?

Yes, starting with 2025. You need a Social Security number valid for employment, issued before your return’s due date. On a joint return, one spouse’s is enough, and the other spouse needs a Social Security number or an ITIN. If you do not have one (and neither does your spouse, on a joint return), you cannot claim the child tax credit. You may still claim the credit for other dependents for the child. For that credit, the child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien (or a child you adopted who lived with you all year, or the rest of the year after placement for adoption, while you are a U.S. citizen or national), and must have a Social Security number, ITIN, or ATIN. You (and your spouse, on a joint return) each need a Social Security number or ITIN issued by the due date.

How does the income phase-out work?

For every $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income above the threshold, or part of $1,000, the credit drops by $50 (IRC §24(b)(1)). $1 over costs $50. The threshold is $400,000 for married filing jointly and $200,000 for everyone else (IRC §24(h)(3)), and it does not change with inflation. The phase-out applies to the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents together.

Is the child tax credit refundable?

Partly. When your income tax is too small to use the whole credit, up to $1,700 per child for 2025 ($1,700 for 2026) can come back as the additional child tax credit, depending on your earned income (IRC §24(h)(5), (i)(1); Schedule 8812 (2025) line 16b; Rev. Proc. 2025-32 §4.05(2)). No refund is available if you file Form 2555 to exclude foreign earned income (IRC §24(d)(3)). The credit for other dependents is never refundable.

My ex and I share custody. Who gets the credit?

Usually the parent the child lived with for more nights. The other parent can claim the credit instead when four things are true. You are divorced or legally separated, separated under a written agreement, or lived apart for all of the last 6 months of the year. You two together paid over half the child’s support. The child lived with one or both of you for more than half the year. And the parent the child lived with longer signs Form 8332 (or a similar release), which the other parent attaches to their return (IRC §152(e); Pub. 501 (2025), Children of divorced or separated parents). When both of you meet the qualifying child tests and no release applies, you can agree on who claims within the limits of the tie-breaker on the dependent page. If you both claim, the tie-breaker decides.

Is this calculator free?

Yes. It is free, with no signup, and it shows every credit test and every line of the phase-out with its citation, and links to the dependent page for every dependent test.

Download the Child Tax Credit Calculator Compliance Card (PDF) — its sources, its limits, and what happens to what you enter