The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is one of the tax breaks and social programs that low-income households in the US rely on to aid their budgets.
About 48 million adult applicants who require a little more assistance to pay for their children under the age of 17’s food, housing, and schooling benefit from the CTC, which permits a portion of the tax bill to be lowered dollar for dollar.
In 2025, the income threshold for CTC eligibility will stay at $200,000 for all other filers and $400,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly.
How much does each child receive in CTC support?
Adults must have qualifying dependents under the age of 17 in order to be eligible for this non-refundable Tax Credit.
By 2025, the IRS said, the maximum amount will be $2,000, with a maximum refundable amount of $1,700 for each eligible child.
The CTC can be claimed after completing your return, and payment may arrive within 21 days of filing with the IRS. You can check your status online. The tax season started on January 27 and the deadline is April 15.
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How the Child Tax Credit is claimed?
The following criteria must be fulfilled by taxpayers in order to be eligible for the Child Tax Credit on yearly tax returns:
- Age: At the end of the tax year, your child must have been younger than 17.
- Connection: The kid you are claiming must be your son, daughter, foster child, stepchild, brother, sister, half-sister, half-brother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of those individuals (e.g., a niece, nephew, or grandchild).
- Dependent status: The child must be eligible to be claimed as a dependent. Unless the child is requesting a refund of withheld income taxes or anticipated taxes paid, they are not permitted to submit a joint tax return.
- Residency: Although there are few exceptions, the child you are claiming must have resided with you for at least half of the year.
- Financial assistance: During the previous year, you had to have contributed at least half of the child’s maintenance. Put another way, your qualifying youngster is probably going to be deemed ineligible if they received financial assistance for longer than six months.
- Citizenship: Your child must have a valid Social Security number and be a “U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien,” according to the IRS.
- Income: Generally speaking, parents or caregivers who are applying for the credit are also not allowed to earn more than a set amount. The credit is progressively diminished until it is removed, depending on how much their income surpasses that limit.
