The Child Tax Credit (CTC) is a federal tax benefit for low and moderate-income working people raising children. The CTC is worth up to $2,000 for each qualifying child younger than 17. More than 13 million people, including 6.7 million children, benefit from the CTC and the credit lifts about 3 million people, including nearly 2 million children, out of poverty each year.
Those eligible for the CTC subtract the credit amount from their owed federal income taxes. The CTC also includes a “refundable” component, called the Additional Child Tax Credit, which may exceed the amount of federal income tax a worker owes and help offset other taxes, such as sales or payroll. Certain criteria are used to determine whether or not a child can be considered “qualified” for purposes of claiming the CTC: age, relationship to the claimant, support, dependency, citizenship and residence.
For more information about the Child Tax Credit: