how the child tax credit works
the child tax credit lowers taxpayers total taxes owed on a dollar for dollar basis that s better than a tax deduction which reduces total taxable income and generally results in smaller savings 3to get the credit you must have a social security number for the dependent child it can be claimed by filing schedule 8812 credits for qualifying children and other dependents with form 1040 41the credits are available if the dependent child or children meet the following qualifications the irs offers an online tool to help taxpayers figure out if their child or dependent qualifies for the child tax credit the credit is partially refundable through the additional child tax credit that is taxpayers whose credit exceeds their tax liability will receive a check for up to 1 600 of the unused portion of the credit 5 this refundable amount rises to 1 700 in the 2024 tax year 6