What Is the ODC Tax Credit for Other Dependents?

The ODC tax credit for other dependents is a $500 nonrefundable federal credit you can claim for each dependent who doesn’t qualify for the Child Tax Credit. That includes teenagers 17 or older, college-age kids you still support, elderly parents, and other relatives who meet the IRS dependency tests. Because it’s nonrefundable, it can reduce your tax bill to zero, but it won’t produce a refund on its own.¹

What the $500 Credit Actually Does

The credit is worth up to $500 per qualifying dependent listed on your return. The nonrefundable label matters more than most people realize. If your total federal income tax for the year is $300, the ODC erases that $300 and the remaining $200 disappears. You don’t receive a check for the leftover amount, and the unused portion doesn’t carry forward to next year. For taxpayers with very low income and little tax liability, the credit may deliver less than the full $500, or nothing at all.

Who Counts as a Qualifying Dependent

The ODC covers dependents who fall outside the Child Tax Credit’s rules. The most common case is a child who turned 17 or older by the end of the tax year, since the Child Tax Credit requires the child to be under 17.² It also covers elderly parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and unrelated people who live with you full-time and meet the dependency tests.³

Every dependent you claim for the ODC must meet four conditions:

The dependent must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien.
You must list the person as a dependent on your Form 1040.
The person cannot be eligible for the Child Tax Credit on your return. You can’t claim both credits for the same person.
The dependent must have a Social Security Number, ITIN, or Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number issued by the due date of your return, including extensions.⁴

College Students and Older Kids

A full-time student between 19 and 23 can still be your qualifying child for dependency purposes, but since the Child Tax Credit cuts off at 17, that student falls under the ODC. Your 20-year-old in college still counts as your dependent if you provide more than half their support, but the credit is $500 instead of the CTC amount.⁵

Permanently Disabled Dependents

A dependent who is permanently and totally disabled can qualify at any age. If that person is 17 or older, they fall under the ODC rather than the Child Tax Credit. The IRS defines permanent and total disability as a physical or mental condition that prevents the person from engaging in substantial gainful activity, certified by a doctor as having lasted or expected to last at least a year, or expected to lead to death.

The Income Limit for Qualifying Relatives

When the dependent is a qualifying relative rather than a qualifying child, that person’s gross income must be under $5,050 for the 2026 tax year.⁵ Gross income means all taxable income, not just wages. If your elderly parent receives $6,000 in taxable pension income, they won’t pass this test even if you cover their rent and medical bills.

The Support Test

You must provide more than half of the dependent’s total support during the calendar year. Total support includes housing (measured at fair rental value), food, clothing, medical care, education, transportation, and recreation.⁶ Tax-exempt income the dependent receives, like certain Social Security benefits or welfare payments, counts toward their total support figure too.

Publication 501 includes a worksheet for calculating whether you’ve cleared the 50% threshold. Keep records of rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, grocery receipts, medical expenses, and insurance premiums you paid on the dependent’s behalf. You don’t submit these with your return, but they’re what protects the credit if the IRS questions your claim.

When Support Is Split Among Family Members

When two or more people together provide more than half of someone’s support but no single person crosses the 50% line, one of those contributors can still claim the dependent through a multiple support agreement. The person who claims the credit must have individually provided more than 10% of the dependent’s support. Everyone else who contributed more than 10% signs a statement agreeing not to claim the dependent that year, and the claiming taxpayer attaches Form 2120 to their return.⁶

This comes up often with siblings splitting the cost of a parent’s care. Only one sibling gets the $500 credit in a given year, but the family can rotate who claims it annually as long as everyone signs off.

Income Phase-Out

The full $500 credit is available as long as your modified adjusted gross income stays below the phase-out threshold. For single filers, head of household filers, and those married filing separately, the credit starts shrinking once income exceeds $200,000. For married couples filing jointly, the threshold is $400,000.¹

Above those thresholds, the credit drops by $50 for every $1,000 of additional income. A head-of-household filer earning $205,000 with one ODC-eligible dependent would receive $250 instead of $500, because they’re $5,000 over the threshold ($50 × 5 = $250 reduction). At $210,000, the credit disappears entirely for a single dependent. If you’re claiming multiple dependents, the combined ODC phases out at the same rate, so higher-income filers with several dependents may retain a partial credit longer.

Divorced or Separated Parents

Only one parent can claim a child as a dependent in a given year. The default rule gives the claim to the custodial parent, meaning the parent the child lived with for the greater number of nights during the year. If the nights were split equally, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income is treated as the custodial parent.⁷

The custodial parent can release the claim to the noncustodial parent by signing Form 8332. That release transfers eligibility for the Child Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, and the Credit for Other Dependents.⁸ It does not transfer other benefits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, the dependent care credit, or head of household filing status. Those stay with the custodial parent regardless.

How to Claim the ODC

Claiming the credit happens on your regular tax return. In the dependents section of Form 1040, list each qualifying dependent’s name and taxpayer identification number, then check the box in the column labeled “Credit for other dependents.” You then complete Schedule 8812, which calculates the actual credit amount based on your income and number of dependents.⁴

Both you and your dependent must have a valid SSN, ITIN, or ATIN issued on or before the due date of your return, including extensions. One useful distinction: if your dependent only has an ITIN and not an SSN, you cannot claim the Child Tax Credit for that person, but you can claim the ODC. That matters for families with children who have ITINs rather than Social Security Numbers.

Mistakes That Cost People This Credit

The most frequent error is failing to check the “Credit for other dependents” box in the dependents section of Form 1040. You can list a dependent correctly and still miss the credit if you skip that checkbox. Tax software usually catches this; paper filers overlook it regularly.

Another costly mistake is claiming a qualifying relative whose gross income exceeds $5,050. People forget that taxable Social Security benefits, interest income, and small side earnings all count toward that figure.⁵

A third pitfall is expecting a refund from the ODC when you have no tax liability. If your standard deduction wipes out your entire tax bill, the credit has nothing to reduce and you get none of it. In that situation, look at refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit instead.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding the Credit for Other Dependents
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Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Parents: Check Eligibility for the Credit for Other Dependents
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Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040)
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Internal Revenue Service. Dependents
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Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
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Internal Revenue Service. Claiming a Child as a Dependent When Parents Are Divorced, Separated or Live Apart
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Internal Revenue Service. Form 8332 Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent