What Is the ODC (Other Dependent) Tax Credit?

The Credit for Other Dependents is a $500 nonrefundable federal tax credit you can claim for each dependent in your household who doesn’t qualify for the larger Child Tax Credit. It covers older teenagers, college-age children, elderly parents, and other relatives you support. The credit was made permanent by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025, so it remains available for the 2026 tax year and beyond.¹

Who Counts as an Other Dependent

The credit applies to anyone you can claim as a dependent who isn’t a “qualifying child” for Child Tax Credit purposes. The CTC covers children under 17 at a higher amount ($2,200 per child for 2026), so the ODC picks up everyone else you support.²

Children 17 and Older

Once a child turns 17, they no longer qualify for the CTC, but you can still claim the $500 ODC if they meet the dependency tests. Children 17 and 18 qualify without any student requirement. Full-time college students aged 19 through 23 also count, provided they were enrolled full-time for at least five months during the year and you still provide more than half their support.³ A child who is permanently and totally disabled qualifies regardless of age.

Qualifying Relatives

Beyond your own children, the tax code lets you claim a wide range of relatives as dependents: parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and other family connections. A blood relationship isn’t strictly required. Someone who lives in your home for the entire year as a member of your household can qualify even if they’re unrelated to you.⁴ Elderly parents are the most common example, and a parent is an exception to the residency rule — they don’t need to live with you, but you must provide more than half their support for the year.

Every qualifying relative must also meet a gross income test. For 2026, their gross income must be below $5,300.⁵ Gross income here means taxable income: wages, interest, and rental income count, but tax-exempt income like most Social Security benefits does not. If your parent earns $6,000 from a part-time job, they fail the test even if you pay for nearly everything else in their life.

The Support Test

For any qualifying relative, you have to cover more than half the person’s total support for the year. Support includes housing, food, utilities, clothing, medical care, education, and recreation. The IRS counts everything the person receives from all sources, including their own savings and government benefits like Social Security. If a parent receives $800 a month in Social Security and $500 a month from you, the Social Security money counts toward their total support, and your contribution may fall short of the halfway mark.⁶

For housing, the IRS uses the fair rental value of the home, not your mortgage payment, to calculate the support you’re providing through lodging. If a parent lives with you rent-free, you get credit for the fair market rent of the space they occupy. Keep records; the IRS can ask you to prove these figures.

Citizenship and Taxpayer ID Rules

Every dependent you claim must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien. The law extends eligibility to residents of Canada and Mexico as well, even if they aren’t U.S. citizens or residents.⁷ Each dependent also needs a valid taxpayer identification number, either a Social Security Number (SSN) or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN).⁸

The ITIN distinction matters. Starting in 2025, a child must have a valid SSN for the $2,200 Child Tax Credit; an ITIN no longer works for the CTC.⁹ The ODC still accepts an ITIN. If your child has an ITIN instead of an SSN, the ODC is likely the only child-related credit available to you. Make sure the ITIN hasn’t expired: any ITIN not used on a federal return for three consecutive years expires automatically, and filing with an expired ITIN can delay your return or block the credit.¹⁰

One rule trips people up. A person you claim as a dependent generally cannot file a joint return with their spouse. The exception is narrow: they can file jointly only if they do so solely to claim a refund of taxes already paid or withheld.¹¹

How Much the Credit Is Worth

The ODC is worth up to $500 per qualifying dependent and directly reduces the federal income tax you owe. Because it’s nonrefundable, it can bring your tax bill down to zero but won’t generate a refund on its own. If you owe $300 in federal tax and claim one dependent for the ODC, your tax drops to zero and the remaining $200 of credit disappears. The refundable portion of the CTC (up to $1,700 per child for 2025), by contrast, can actually put money back in your pocket.¹

The credit phases out at higher incomes. For single filers and heads of household, it begins shrinking once your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000. For married couples filing jointly, the phase-out starts at $400,000. The credit drops by $50 for every $1,000 of income above those thresholds.¹ At $500 per dependent, a single filer’s ODC for one dependent hits zero at $210,000 in income. For joint filers, it disappears at $410,000. These thresholds are not adjusted for inflation.

How to Claim the Credit

You claim the ODC in two places on your federal return. First, list each dependent in the “Dependents” section on page one of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, and for each person who qualifies for the ODC rather than the CTC, check the box in the “Credit for other dependents” column. Second, complete Schedule 8812, which walks you through the phase-out calculation and produces the final dollar amount that flows back to your 1040.⁹ Tax software will flag common errors, like a missing identification number, before you submit.

Rules for Divorced or Separated Parents

When parents live apart, the custodial parent — the one the child lived with for the greater number of nights during the year — holds the default right to claim the child as a dependent. If the child spent an equal number of nights with each parent, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income gets priority.¹²

The custodial parent can transfer the right to claim the child by signing Form 8332, releasing the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent. The release can cover a single tax year, specific future years, or all future years. The noncustodial parent must attach the signed form to their return each year they claim the child.¹³ If your divorce or separation agreement was finalized after 2008, the noncustodial parent cannot simply attach pages from the decree; the IRS requires Form 8332 or a statement containing the same information.

When the custodial parent signs Form 8332, the noncustodial parent can claim the CTC or ODC for that child. The custodial parent may still claim the child for other benefits, including head-of-household filing status and the child and dependent care credit.¹² These rules split differently than most people expect, and getting them wrong is one of the fastest ways to trigger an IRS notice.

What Happens If the IRS Denies Your Claim

If the IRS determines you claimed the ODC for someone who didn’t qualify, the consequences go beyond losing the credit for that year. You may be required to file Form 8862 with your next return to prove you’re eligible before the IRS will allow the credit again.¹⁴ The form asks detailed questions about your relationship to the dependent and the support you provided.

The penalties escalate based on intent. For reckless or intentional disregard of the rules, you’re banned from claiming the ODC (and the CTC, ACTC, and related credits) for two years after the IRS makes a final determination. For fraud, the ban extends to ten years, and you may face a separate penalty of 20% of the excessive credit amount.

During a ban, the IRS will reject any e-filed return that attempts to claim the blocked credits. If you believe the ban was applied in error, you can dispute it, but you’ll need to paper-file the return with Form 8862 attached, because the electronic filing system won’t accept it.¹⁵

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 24 – Child Tax Credit
2
Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
3
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S.C. 152 – Dependent Defined
5
IRS. Rev. Proc. 2025-32
6
eCFR. 26 CFR 1.152-1 – General Definition of a Dependent
7
Internal Revenue Service. Nonresident Aliens – Dependents
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information – Section: Social Security Numbers for Dependents
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) (2025)
10
Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN
11
Internal Revenue Service. Dependents
12
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
13
IRS. Form 8332 Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent
14
Internal Revenue Service. What to Do If We Deny Your Claim for a Credit
15
IRS. Instructions for Form 8862 – Information to Claim Certain Credits After Disallowance