Child Tax Credit Calculator
Work out your 2026 child tax credit after the income phase-out, and how much of it you can actually receive as a refund if your tax bill is small.
How to use this calculator
- 1Enter how many qualifying children you have who will be under 17 at the end of the year.
- 2Enter your modified AGI, and separately how much of it is earned income — the refundable portion depends on the earned part alone.
- 3Add any other non-refundable credits you are claiming, since they use up your tax liability first.
- 4Read the split between the amount offsetting tax and the amount refunded; the headline credit is rarely what arrives.
How the calculation works
Credit = $2,200 per child − $50 per $1,000 of MAGI above the threshold. Refundable part = min(15% of earned income above $2,500, $1,700 per child, credit left after offsetting tax)- Threshold
- $200,000, or $400,000 filing jointly. Fixed in section 24(h)(3) and not indexed for inflation
- Or fraction thereof
- The excess over the threshold is rounded up to the next whole $1,000 before the reduction is worked out
- Earned income
- Wages and self-employment profit only. The refundable portion is computed from this, not from total income
A qualifying child must be under 17 at the end of the tax year. Dependents 17 and over may qualify for the separate $500 credit for other dependents.
The taxpayer and every qualifying child must have a Social Security number valid for employment, issued before the return due date.
Unused child tax credit does not carry forward to a later year.
Worked example
Two children, $95,000 of earned income, filing jointly
- 1.Two children at $2,200 each gives a maximum credit of $4,400.
- 2.$95,000 is well below the $400,000 joint threshold, so nothing is phased out.
- 3.Federal tax before credits on $95,000 jointly is enough to absorb the full $4,400.
- 4.So the whole credit is used against tax and none of it needs to be refundable.
- 5.The refundable ceiling of $1,700 a child would only have mattered had the tax bill been smaller.
Result: The full $4,400, all of it offsetting tax
The number you qualify for is not the number you get
The child tax credit is $2,200 per child for 2026. Almost every summary stops there, and for a family with a substantial tax bill that is the end of it — the credit offsets tax dollar for dollar and the full amount is realised.
For families with little or no tax liability, which includes a great many of the households the credit exists to help, the picture is different. The credit is only partly refundable. The non-refundable portion can reduce your tax to zero and no further. Beyond that, only the additional child tax credit is payable, and it is limited twice over: to 15% of earned income above $2,500, and to $1,700 per child.
A single parent of two earning $22,000 has a maximum credit of $4,400 and very little tax to offset. Fifteen percent of the earned income above $2,500 is about $2,925, which is below the $3,400 refundable ceiling for two children, so that is what they receive. The remaining credit is not carried forward. It simply does not exist for them.
This is why the split between refundable and non-refundable matters more than the headline. It is also why proposals to make the credit fully refundable are the ones that change outcomes for the lowest-income families, and why raising the headline amount largely does not.
The threshold that shrinks every year
The credit amount is indexed for inflation. The income thresholds at which it phases out are not.
Section 24(h)(3) fixes them at $200,000, and $400,000 for a joint return, with no adjustment provision. They have not moved since 2018 and will not move on their own. Meanwhile wages rise, so each year a slightly larger share of families finds part of the credit withdrawn — without any vote in Congress.
This is the same drafting pattern as the net investment income tax, whose $200,000 and $250,000 thresholds have been fixed since 2013. In both cases the effect is a tax increase that occurs automatically and is invisible in any given year.
One quirk of the phase-out is worth knowing if you are close to a boundary. The reduction is $50 for each $1,000 "or fraction thereof" above the threshold, so the excess is rounded up. Earning one dollar over a round thousand costs a full $50 of credit rather than five cents.
What disqualifies a child
The age test is unforgiving and catches families every year: the child must be under 17 at the end of the tax year. A child who turns 17 on 31 December does not qualify at all for that year — not a partial credit, none. They may instead qualify for the $500 credit for other dependents, which is worth less than a quarter as much and is not refundable.
The child must also have a Social Security number valid for employment, issued before the due date of the return including extensions. An individual taxpayer identification number is not sufficient for the child tax credit, though it can support the $500 other-dependent credit. Since 2025 the taxpayer claiming the credit must hold a valid SSN too.
The usual dependency tests apply on top: the child must have lived with you for more than half the year, not provided more than half of their own support, and be your child, stepchild, foster child, sibling or a descendant of any of them. Where parents are separated, the credit follows the parent claiming the child as a dependent, which can be assigned by written declaration.
What this assumes, and where it stops
Assumptions
- Every child entered meets the age, residency, relationship and support tests.
- The taxpayer and each child hold Social Security numbers valid for employment.
- The 2026 bracket schedule and standard deduction are used to compute the tax the credit offsets.
- Modified AGI equals AGI, which holds for filers without foreign income exclusions.
Limitations
- The $500 credit for other dependents is not included; add it separately for dependents aged 17 and over.
- The alternative refundable calculation for families with three or more children, based on Social Security taxes paid, is not modelled and can produce a larger refund in narrow cases.
- State child tax credits are excluded, and around a dozen states offer one.
- Interaction with the earned income tax credit, which often applies to the same families, is not computed here.
Common questions
How much is the child tax credit for 2026?
It is $2,200 per qualifying child under 17. Up to $1,700 of that per child is refundable, meaning it can be paid to you even if you owe no tax. The credit begins to phase out at $200,000 of modified AGI, or $400,000 filing jointly, falling by $50 for each $1,000 above the threshold.
Why did I get less than $2,200 per child?
Two reasons account for almost all cases. If your income is above $200,000, or $400,000 jointly, the credit is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 above that. If your tax bill is small, the non-refundable part has nothing to offset, and you can only receive the refundable portion — 15% of your earned income above $2,500, capped at $1,700 per child. Credit you cannot use is lost rather than carried forward.
Does my 17-year-old qualify for the child tax credit?
No. The child must be under 17 at the end of the tax year, so a child who turns 17 at any point during the year — including on 31 December — is out for that year entirely. They may qualify for the $500 credit for other dependents instead, which is non-refundable and worth considerably less. This is the single most common surprise on family returns.
Is the child tax credit refundable?
Partly. Up to $1,700 per child for 2026 is refundable through the additional child tax credit, but only up to 15% of your earned income above $2,500. The rest is non-refundable and can only reduce tax you actually owe. A family with no earned income receives nothing, and a family with modest earnings often receives well under the full amount.
Sources
- Child tax credit — US Internal Revenue Service
- 26 U.S. Code § 24 — Child tax credit — Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- Revenue Procedure 2025-32 — 2026 inflation adjustments — US Internal Revenue Service
Formula and content last reviewed on .
Results are estimates for information only, not professional advice.
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