You may be able to claim a child tax credit if you have a qualifying child.
A qualifying child is a child who:
- Is a United States citizen, a United States resident, or a national of
the United States,
- Is under age 17 at the end of the calendar year in which your tax year
begins,
- Is your son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, legally adopted child, or
a child placed with you for legal adoption, brother, sister, stepbrother,
stepsister, foster child placed with you by an authorized placement agency
or by a court order, or a descendant of any such person, and who
- Shares with you the same principal place of abode for more than one-half
of the tax year, or is treated as your qualifying child under the special
rule for parents who are divorced, separated, or living apart. For more information,
refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction,
and Filing Information.
The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a
certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins depends on your
filing status. You can find the phase-out range for your filing status in
the Publication 972, Child Tax Credit.
In general, the child tax credit is limited also by the sum of your income
tax liability and any alternative minimum tax liability. For example, if the
amount of the credit is $600, but the amount of your income tax is $500, the
credit ordinarily will be limited to $500. However, there are two exceptions
to this general rule. First, if the amount of your child tax credit is greater
than the amount of your income taxes, you may be able to claim an "additional"
tax child tax credit if your earned income exceeds the base amount for the
year. Second, if you have three or more qualifying children, you may be able
to claim an additional child tax credit up to the amount of Social Security
taxes you paid during the year, less any earned income credit you receive.
If you qualify under both these exceptions, you receive the greater of the
two additional amounts. You can find the base amount, as well as more information
on qualifying with three or more children in the Publication 972, Child
Tax Credit.
The total amount of the child tax credit and any additional child tax credit
cannot exceed the maximum amount allowed for the taxable year. You can find
the maximum amount allowed in Publication 972, Child Tax Credit.
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma victims can elect to compute their 2005
Additional Child Tax Credit based on their larger 2004 earned income. Refer
to Your
2004 Earned Income Option for additional instructions. Victims of other
Hurricanes cannot take this election.
Individuals entitled to receive the child tax credit and additional child
tax credit may also be eligible to receive the child and dependent care credit
and the earned income credit.
Follow your Form 1040 Instructions or Form 1040A Instructions and complete the child tax credit worksheet. Certain taxpayers
may also have to complete worksheets in Publication 972, Child Tax
Credit. Use Form 8812 (PDF) to figure the
additional child tax credit and attach it to your return. For more information
on the child tax credit, refer to Publication 972, Child Tax
Credit.
