2009, 2010 Child Tax Credit Information & Calculator
81If you have children who are under 17 as of the end of the tax year, you can get a $1,000 tax credit per child on your tax return.
Because this is a credit, not a deduction, you get to take those dollars right off your tax bill. That makes this much better than a deduction would be, which would just reduce the income you use to determine taxes.
And the credit does not affect the exemptions you take for dependents. The credit is in addition to your exemptions.
To claim the credit you must meet these tests, to qualify for the credit:
- The dependent must be a U.S. citizen or resident, and a blood or adoptive son, daughter, stepchild, or grandchild. Foster children qualify if they lived with you as members of your household for all of 2005.
- You must report each qualifying child's tax identification number (TIN) (usually the child's Social Security number) on your return for the year that you take the credit.
You can calculate your child tax credit using the worksheet provided in the instructions for Form 1040, line 52, or Form 1040A, line 33.
Or, let TurboTax walk you through the entire qualification process step-by-step.
How Much You Get
In most cases, the child tax credit is limited to the amount of tax liability on your return (in other words, if your credit is bigger than your tax liability, your tax liability is just reduced to zero, and the rest of the credit is lost).
In certain cases, though, you can get a child tax credit refund when the credit exceeds your tax liability. This means that you would get a refund of the difference between your tax credit and what you owe in taxes. This refundable child tax credit is called the Additional Child Tax Credit, which you calculate on Form 8812.
This credit is refundable for families with three or less qualifying children, to the extent of 15 percent of taxable earned income in excess of $11,000 for 2005. For families with four or more qualifying children, the refundable amount may be the excess of the family's social security tax over the earned income credit, or the extent of 15 percent of taxable earned income in excess of $11,000, whichever is greater.
Herb and Susan had a bad year, making only $25,000 on their sheep ranch. They have four children under 17. Their taxable income was zero, so they owed zero in taxes, but they got an additional child tax credit refund worth $1,835, or the excess of the family's social security tax over the earned income credit, whichever is greater.
The otherwise allowable child tax credit is phased out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (defined below) above certain thresholds. The amount of the credit is reduced (but not below zero) by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income exceeds the threshold amount. The threshold amount is:
- $110,000 in the case of a joint return
- $75,000 in the case of an unmarried individual
- $55,000 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return
The total you can take is $1,000 per child, although part of that can be a tax credit, and the rest in a refund. Families with three or more children can calculate the refundable credit as they did last year if it results in a larger amount.
If you pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, you can use the child tax credit to offset that.
Something to keep in mind: the child tax credit rate of $1000 per child has been extended through 2009.
You can use the Free Tax Estimator provided by Turbo Tax Online to estimate your Child Tax Credit. You can also find plenty of Free help & information to Prepare & File Your Taxes Online and get all the tax deductions and credits possible.
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Comments
will the child tax credit go up for the year of 2009?
Its very informative about tax credit. Good matter i got from your hub. Thanks for sharing this hub.
I have 3 children, 2 are under 17. Do I get a tax credit check?
"The total you can take is $1,000 per child, although part of that can be a tax credit, and the rest in a refund. Families with three or more children can calculate the refundable credit as they did last year if it results in a larger amount."
now that just amazing
What if child IS 17? Do they have to be UNDER 17? Or it is 17 and under?
IF MY CHILD IS 5 MONTHS DO I QUALIFY FOR A TAX CREDIT?
yes, even if your child was born 1 day before 2009 you will still qualify for the 2008 tax credits! nice little bonus huh?
if i made 1800.00 under the table, can i get money back for my 2 yr old son, im married but husband owes back child support so i want to file married but siling seperatly and want to claim my son
ehere do u get th form
If my mother was the child care provider and I payed her for her to provide care for my 3 year old in 2008 would I qualify for child tax credit?
I have 2 kids under 17 they go to daycare and we own oour own S corperation. We are a small business and me and my partner only made 16000.00 combined income for the year 2008. Our accountant informed us that we get no return and have to payin 100.00 to 200.00 this year for our personal taxes. We paid 8300.00 for child care last year as well. Why are we4 not getting a return for child tax credit.
Last year I made 13000 more than this year. I received the full child tax credit of 8000. this year it says that I am only "qualify for a limited" tax credit of 6262. why is this?
Another important thing to remember is that children born (or adopted) in 2008 may qualify you for an extra $300 as part of the originnal stimulus check program from last year. Here are some more details: http://www.richerbytheday.com/2009/01/new-2008-tax
My son is a US citizen, but he is not with me for the whole of 2008, I was taking care of his expenses and he was in India under his grandmother's care.
He is back with me in oct 2008. Still he qaulifies as my dependent to cliam the child tax credit?
if i made 4200.00 under the table, can i get money back for my baby i had in 2008, im single and was wondering if i could still get the child tax return?
TurboTax (online) is only putting $650 in for my CTR. ANybody else see this?
I made total of 1700.00 in 2008. Turbo Tax showed 1300.00 as Child Credit refund for my two children. Does it look correctly calculated?
For those of you getting paid under the table, you get nothing. For cryfirmenot, were your earnings W-2 wages or pass-through earnings? If they are W-2 you won't get the child tax credit because you are under the taxable earned income level of $8500.00 but you should qualify for EIC. If it is pass-through income then you qualify for zip because you don't have earned income. Your accountant should be able to explain this, if not find a new accountant.
If i only made 2900 this year and have a child thats a year old can i file taxes still?
I have had my niece as a foster child in my home since Aug. 2009. Can I still take the tax credit for her? and just in case you know... can I take the daycare expenses for her as a deduction?
Rathana - there are two reasons to file, one to get back any taxes that were withheld and two to claim the EIC. You should be eligible for about $1000.00. There are several tests that must be met in order to qualify for EIC, your tax preparer would be required to complete those. Click here for more info http://www.coppercanyontax.com/tax-tips/credits-de
OCCOOPERS - Generally yes.
Click here for more info http://www.coppercanyontax.com/tax-tips/marriage-f and http://www.coppercanyontax.com/tax-tips/marriage-f
Ideally would I in the 15% bracket or my fiance in the 25% bracket get back more for claiming our child? Who should claim him?
i am 20 years old and my baby is 1 36 months..i heard she is worth 1500$ and 4000$..which one is true?
I have a 18 yr old son that is disabled and a 17 yr old daughter....am I still eligable for the eic????
wow really how much is she worth??? did u have kids to get more money
how much is your child worth? lol damn i hope she priceless u idiot and let me guess u live off the government in all aspects now u want hand outs
@wtf and Brittany:
we all know what she meant and the comment section is for tax questions, not to bash other people or their comments, if you want to do that then go blog about it somewhere else
I'm pregnant and my child will be born feb 2010 can I claim her when filing my 2009 taxes!?
Elvee,the answer is no,the child must have been "BORN"in the tax year being claimed.
It's been a couple of decades since I took the credit,but the general guidelines have stayed consistant.
If a "child" is unborn then the child is non-qualifying.
if ma daughter is 1 and im 18 can i still file for income tax
If for most of the year I only earned part time income for a less than half the year do I still qualify for head of household, child tax credit.?
If my husband gets SSI cause he is disabled and that is our only income can i still claim our daughter for income tax
I MADE 18,000 THIS YEAR. AND LEFT WORK FOR MATERNITY. I had my baby in August 19,2009. I also have a 9 year old child.
ball park how much will I get back. Also I fixed my w-2 where not much federal tax was withheld.
if i am 17 and my mother is till carrying me as a dependent but i now have a 1 year old, would i be able to file my own taxes with a dependent under me while she's still carrying me.
If I get EIC for my non dependent full time student daughter can she get EIC for her 6mos son.
I MADE ROUGHLY 2000 AT 1 JOB I CLAIMED 1 MYSELF
I LEFT THAT POSITION AND I WAS PRENGAT AND I WORK 2 DIFFERNT JOBS NOW AND I CLAIM BOTH AT 0. MY DAUGHTER IS 6 MONTHS OLD BORN JULY2009. SO AT THE END OF THE YEAR DO I CLAIM 2? WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH THE DIFFERNT NOMBERS?
I have a grandchild that was born 01/2009. Do I qualify for the EIC and what is the amount of EIC?
I am a college student (age 23) I am listed as a dependent under my parents taxes.For the purposes of health insurances, education. However, I just had a Baby (not married) in 2009. I did work and attempted to complete my tax returns but it was rejected because I was listed as a dependent under my father's taxes. Can I still get the child tax credit if I am listed as a dependent?
if I made money but my boss was not taking taxes out but she files a I-99 (not sure if that's right) form on me will I still get money back for my eic for my daughter.... I know that means ill have to pay taxes but if I made 4000 the eic should cover the taxes I owe and I should get money back correct??
How do i know who would get more money for claiming my son. I made 7300 and his father made 20000. not sure which way to go if i should claim him or his father we are not married.
I have 2 kids and normally get 2k on top of my refund, this year i collected unemployment all year, and when i do my taxes on turbo tax it says my child tax credit is $70..... wtf? wheres my 2k? is it becuz i didnt "earn" any money?
louisaSILL says:
2 years ago
DO I STILL GET CHILD TAX