Child Tax Credit for 2026
The official 2026 dollar amounts
Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.05, states that for taxable years beginning in 2026 the maximum Child Tax Credit under section 24(a) is $2,200, and the amount used in section 24(d)(1)(A) to determine the refundable additional Child Tax Credit is $1,700. IRS news release IR-2025-103 points readers to that procedure for the year’s inflation-adjusted items. The 2025 Act made the expanded Child Tax Credit framework in section 24(h) permanent and set a $2,200 figure that is adjusted for inflation after 2025, which is how the 2026 amount was produced.
Those two numbers do different jobs. The $2,200 is the starting credit per qualifying child before phase-out and before any tax-limit. The $1,700 is not a second credit on top of $2,200; it is the cap on the portion that can be refunded after income tax has been reduced to zero, through the additional Child Tax Credit. A family never receives $2,200 plus $1,700 per child. At most they receive $2,200 per child, some of it as a reduction in tax and some of it, if unused against tax and if the earned-income test is met, as a refundable amount no higher than $1,700.
Nonrefundable first, then the additional credit
The usual order is: compute the credit after the income phase-out, apply as much as possible against federal income tax, and then ask whether any leftover Child Tax Credit can be paid as the additional credit. The common earned-income formula is 15% of earned income over $2,500, limited by the leftover credit and by $1,700 per qualifying child. Example: one qualifying child, $0 of income tax, and $20,000 of earned income. The earned-income limit is 15% of $17,500, or $2,625, but the refundable cap is $1,700, so the additional credit is $1,700. Example: $800 of income tax and $12,000 of earned income. $800 is used against the tax, $1,400 is leftover, and 15% of $9,500 is $1,425, so the additional credit is $1,400 and the combined package is the full $2,200.
Schedule 8812 is the official worksheet. Families with three or more qualifying children sometimes use an alternative additional-credit computation that involves Social Security taxes and the Earned Income Credit. The Child Tax Credit calculator on this site does not run that alternative, and you should follow the schedule if it might help you. Draft 2026 instructions for Schedule 8812 were posted by the IRS as a PDF; final instructions, when issued, control.
Phase-out and the credit for other dependents
Section 24(h), which the 2025 Act made permanent, begins to reduce the credit when modified AGI exceeds $200,000, or $400,000 for married couples filing jointly. The reduction is $50 for each $1,000, or fraction of $1,000, over the threshold. A single parent at exactly $200,000 is not reduced. At $200,000.01 the first $50 step is taken. At $201,000.01 the reduction is $100. The phase-out applies to the section 24 credit package, which also includes the $500 credit for other dependents — qualifying relatives and qualifying children who are not under age 17 for the main credit, subject to the tests in the instructions.
The $500 credit for other dependents is not refundable. It can reduce tax to zero but it does not feed the $1,700 additional Child Tax Credit. If a household has one 10-year-old and one 19-year-old student who is an other dependent, the starting package is $2,200 + $500 = $2,700 before phase-out. Only the leftover portion of the $2,200 line can become an additional Child Tax Credit. Our calculator applies the phase-out to the Child Tax Credit first and then to the other-dependent credit, which matches the usual combined treatment; confirm the official worksheet if your income is near the threshold.
Who is a qualifying child, and what the IRS will still check
A calculator that asks you for a headcount cannot apply the qualifying-child tests. Those tests generally include a relationship test, a residency test, a support test, an age test (under 17 at the end of the year for the main Child Tax Credit), and identification requirements, including a Social Security number. The IRS pages on the Child Tax Credit and the Schedule 8812 instructions are the authority. If a child lives with you for part of the year, or if two taxpayers might claim the same child, do not guess; use the tie-breaker rules in the instructions or speak with a qualified professional.
Refund timing can also be affected. The IRS refunds page notes that a claim for the additional Child Tax Credit can take more time to review, and that refunds on returns that include the Earned Income Credit are held until mid-February by law to prevent fraud. Neither delay changes the amount of a correctly computed credit; they change when a refund that includes those credits may be released. For the way the credit flows into a complete refund estimate, use the refund calculator and the guide on when refunds typically arrive.
Planning during the rest of 2026
If you already know you will have qualifying children and your tax before credits will be low, the additional credit’s earned-income formula is the line to watch. Extra withholding will not increase a fully refundable additional credit; it only changes how much was prepaid. If your income is near the $200,000 or $400,000 modified AGI threshold, a year-end bonus, a Roth conversion, or a large capital gain can step the phase-out in $50 increments. That is a planning issue for the remainder of the calendar year, not a reason to invent deductions. After year-end, the job is accurate filing, with Free File or software that supports Schedule 8812, and with Social Security numbers that match IRS records.
Nothing in this guide is a determination that you qualify. The IRS, not a website, administers the credit. If an official page and this explanation diverge, follow the official page.
If your 2026 income will land near a phase-out step, a year-end review of bonuses, capital gains and retirement conversions is more useful than changing withholding in a way that does not affect modified AGI. After 31 December the remaining work is documentation: birth dates, Social Security numbers that match Social Security Administration records, and a clear record of where each child lived during the year.