Child Tax Credit 2026

The 2026 Amount: $2,200

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 — up from the $2,000 that stood for years. The increase came from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also made the higher amount permanent rather than letting it expire. It is a credit, not a deduction, which makes it powerful: it reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar, not just your taxable income.

A deduction worth $2,200 at a 22% rate saves about $484. A credit worth $2,200 saves $2,200. That is the fundamental reason the CTC matters more to a family than a same-sized deduction would.

Refundable vs Non-Refundable

The CTC is split into two layers. The full $2,200 reduces whatever tax you owe. If you owe less than that — or nothing — the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) converts up to $1,700 per child into a refund. That is what makes the credit valuable to lower-income families: a single parent with two kids and little or no tax liability can still receive a meaningful refund, because the refundable portion does not require a matching tax bill.

Who Counts as a Qualifying Child

To claim a child for the 2026 credit, they must be:

• Under age 17 at the end of the tax year.
• Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or a descendant of any of these.
• A U.S. citizen, national, or resident alien with a valid Social Security number.
• Living with you for more than half the year and not providing more than half of their own support.

Children who turn 17 during 2026 no longer qualify for that year. The credit also phases down to a smaller "other dependents" credit for dependents 17 and older or who lack an SSN.

The $500k / $1M Phase-Out

The OBBBA dramatically raised the income ceiling. The full credit now phases out only when modified adjusted gross income passes $500,000 for single, head-of-household, and separate filers, or $1,000,000 for married filing jointly. Below those lines, families keep the full credit regardless of income — a sharp change from the old $200,000 / $400,000 thresholds that quietly clawed back the credit from upper-middle-class families.

Above the threshold, the credit reduces gradually. For the overwhelming majority of families, the practical answer is simply: you get the full $2,200 per child.

What It Is Worth to a Family

Consider a married couple with two children earning $120,000. Their $4,400 of Child Tax Credit reduces their federal bill directly. If their tax before credits were, say, $8,000, the credit cuts it to $3,600. For a single parent earning $35,000 with two kids, the refundable ACTC can turn a small or zero tax bill into a refund of several thousand dollars — the credit's most important effect for lower-income households.

Frequently Asked Questions