The Child Tax Credit | The White House (2024)

FAQs

What president signed the Child Tax Credit? ›

The American Rescue Plan Act – which President Biden signed into law in 2021– included a revolutionary expansion of the existing Child Tax Credit (CTC). This new CTC – a provision my Ways and Means Committee colleagues and I helped craft –guaranteed monthly income for families nationwide through the end of 2021.

Here's how it works. At the beginning of 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed $78 billion tax legislation that includes a newly expanded federal child tax credit (CTC) and various tax breaks for businesses. Since then, the bipartisan tax package has been stalled in the U.S. Senate.

Child Tax Credit 2024: Requirements, Who Qualifies. The child tax credit is a $2,000 benefit available to those with dependent children under 17. For 2024, $1,700 of the credit will be potentially refundable.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 temporarily expanded the child tax credit for the 2021 tax year to $3,600 per child younger than age 6 and $3,000 per child up to age 17.

In 1991, the bipartisan National Commission on Children,1 which was established to provide solutions to a variety of problems facing children, recommended in its final report to the President the creation of a $1,000 refundable child tax credit for all children through age 18.

The federal pandemic-era child tax credit expansion lifted millions of children out of poverty in the second half of 2021. But Congress allowed it to expire at the end of that year, and new U.S. census data shows the child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022, erasing the record gains that were made.

Eligible families will receive advance payments, either by direct deposit or check. Each payment will be up to $300 per month for each child under age 6 and up to $250 per month for each child ages 6 through 17.

Specifically, the Child Tax Credit was revised in the following ways for 2021: The credit amount was increased for 2021. The American Rescue Plan increased the amount of the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for qualifying children under age 6, and $3,000 for other qualifying children under age 18.

This credit can be claimed for: Dependents of any age, including those who are age 18 or older. Dependents who have Social Security numbers or Individual Taxpayer Identification numbers. Dependent parents or other qualifying relatives supported by the taxpayer.

How do I get a 10,000 tax refund? You could end up with a $10,000 tax refund if you've paid significantly more tax payments than you owe at the end of the year.

How many kids can you claim on taxes? ›

How many children can you claim? There is no maximum number of children. To qualify, children must be claimed as your dependent and live with you for at least half of the year and meet other conditions explained by the IRS.

Although there are limits to specific dependent credits, there's no maximum number of dependent exemptions you can claim.

Proposed by Russell Long and signed into law by President Gerald Ford as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975, the EITC provides an income tax credit to certain individuals.

The EITC was enacted in 1975. Substantial expansions were adopted in 1986, 1990, and 1993. The credit goes only to households with earnings, with the size of the credit initially rising as earnings increase. EITC benefits both offset taxes and, frequently, provide a wage supplement.

That earlier tax cut expanded the child tax credit in two ways. First, it increased the size of the credit from $500 per child to $600 in 2001 through 2004, $700 in 2005 through 2008, $800 in 2009, and $1,000 in 2010.

If your children are under 17, don't forget to claim the 2013 child tax credit. The credit allows up to $1000 (per qualifying child), to be subtracted from the income tax you owe. If you are taking the 2013 child tax credit, you may be able to claim the additional child tax credit and receive a tax refund.