For tax year 2026, the Child Tax Credit is worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child under age 17. That figure answers the core question of how much the Child Tax Credit is per child, but the amount you actually see depends on your income, how much of the credit is refundable in your situation, and whether each of your kids meets the IRS tests for a qualifying child.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
The $2,200 amount rose from the previous $2,000 level after federal legislation made the expanded credit permanent and tied it to inflation. Multiply it by the number of qualifying children in your household and you have the maximum credit before any income-based reduction.
How the $2,200 Per Child Actually Reaches You
The credit comes in two layers, and the split matters because it decides whether the money lowers your tax bill or shows up as refund cash.
The first layer is non-refundable. It reduces the income tax you owe dollar for dollar, down to zero. If your tax liability is small, this layer alone may not deliver the full $2,200 per child.
The second layer is the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), which is refundable. If the non-refundable portion wipes out your tax and there is credit left over, the ACTC can send the rest to you as a refund. To get any refundable amount, you need at least $2,500 in earned income for the year.2Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit The refundable piece is calculated as 15 percent of your earned income above that $2,500 floor, capped per child. The IRS set the 2025 refundable cap at $1,700 per qualifying child, and the 2026 cap is inflation-adjusted from that figure.
Both layers are reported on Schedule 8812, filed with your Form 1040.
Which Kids Count Toward the $2,200
Each child you claim has to clear five tests. Miss any one and that child does not add $2,200 to your credit.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 152 – Dependent Defined
- Relationship. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or a descendant of any of those, such as a grandchild.
- Age. The child must be under 17 at the end of the tax year. A 17-year-old does not qualify for the $2,200, no matter how close to the cutoff.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
- Residency. The child must live with you for more than half the year in the United States. Temporary absences for school, medical care, or vacation still count as time together.4Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules
- Support. The child cannot have paid more than half of their own living expenses.
- Social Security number. The child must have a valid SSN issued before the due date of your return, including extensions.2Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
A child born or who died during the tax year is treated as having lived with you for more than half the year, as long as your home was the child’s home for more than half the time the child was alive.4Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules So a baby born in December still generates the full per-child credit for that year.
Income Limits That Shrink the Per-Child Amount
You get the full $2,200 per child as long as your modified adjusted gross income stays at or below $200,000 filing single or head of household, or $400,000 filing jointly.2Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit Cross that line and the credit falls by $50 for every $1,000 of income above the threshold.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 24 – Child Tax Credit
Important detail: the $50-per-$1,000 reduction applies to your total credit, not to each child separately. Three qualifying kids and $10,000 of income over the threshold means the combined credit drops by $500, from $6,600 to $6,100. The phase-out keeps going until the credit reaches zero at high income levels.
Kids Who Age Out: The $500 Credit
Once a child turns 17, the $2,200 Child Tax Credit is gone for that child. They may still deliver a $500 non-refundable Credit for Other Dependents instead, which also covers college students, adult children with disabilities, and other qualifying relatives you support.5Internal Revenue Service. Tax Tip 2024-26 – Parents: Check Eligibility for the Credit for Other Dependents The same $200,000 and $400,000 income thresholds apply.2Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
Because this credit is non-refundable, it can zero out tax you owe but cannot create a refund on its own. The dependent must also be a U.S. citizen, national, or resident.
Divorced or Separated Parents: Only One Gets the $2,200
For any given child in any given year, only one parent claims the Child Tax Credit. When both could technically claim the same child, the IRS uses tiebreaker rules. The child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent they lived with longer during the year. If time was equal, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income claims the credit.6IRS. Tie-Breaker Rule
A custodial parent can hand over the claim by signing Form 8332 and giving it to the noncustodial parent, who then attaches it to their return each year they claim the child. That release covers the Child Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, and the Credit for Other Dependents.7IRS. Form 8332 – Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent It does not transfer head-of-household filing status or the Earned Income Tax Credit; those stay with the custodial parent.
Other Per-Child Money That Can Stack On Top
The $2,200 is not the only tax benefit tied to your children. Depending on your circumstances, other credits can add to it.
If you pay for child care so you can work or look for work, the Child and Dependent Care Credit applies to up to $3,000 of expenses for one qualifying child under 13 or up to $6,000 for two or more. Your credit is a percentage of those expenses, ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent depending on income, with the full 50 percent rate reserved for the lowest-income families.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 21 – Expenses for Household and Dependent Care Services Necessary for Gainful Employment
The Earned Income Tax Credit is fully refundable and scales with the number of children. For 2026 the maximums are $4,427 with one child, $7,316 with two, and $8,231 with three or more.9Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 The EITC uses similar qualifying-child tests but allows older kids to count: up to age 18, or up to 23 if a full-time student, compared with the Child Tax Credit’s under-17 rule.4Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules
Each credit has its own form and its own rules. Qualifying for the $2,200 Child Tax Credit does not automatically qualify you for the others, and vice versa. To capture everything your family is entitled to, file Schedule 8812 for the Child Tax Credit and ACTC, Form 2441 for dependent care expenses, and Schedule EIC for the EITC.