Tax year 2021/filing season 2022 Child Tax Credit frequently asked questions - Topic A: 2021 Child Tax Credit basics

A1. The Child Tax Credit is a fully refundable tax credit for families with qualifying children. The American Rescue Plan expanded the Child Tax Credit for 2021 to get more help to more families. The credit increased from $2,000 per child in 2020 to $3,600 in 2021 for each child under age 6. Similarly, for each child age 6 to 16, it’s increased from $2,000 to $3,000. It also provides the $3,000 credit for 17-year-olds. Under the American Rescue Plan, the IRS disbursed half of the 2021 Child Tax Credit in monthly payments during the second half of 2021.

The advance Child Tax Credit payments disbursed by the IRS from July through December of 2021 were early payments from the IRS of 50 percent of the amount of the Child Tax Credit that the IRS estimated you may properly claim on your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season.

Important: You don’t need to have income or a permanent address to claim this tax credit if you’re eligible.

For information about your eligibility for the Child Tax Credit, see Topic B: Eligibility Rules for Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on a 2021 Tax Return.

A2. For tax year 2021, the Child Tax Credit is increased from $2,000 per qualifying child to:

• $3,600 for each qualifying child who has not reached age 6 by the end of 2021, or
• $3,000 for each qualifying child age 6 through 17 at the end of 2021.

Note: The $500 nonrefundable Credit for Other Dependents amount has not changed. For more information about the Credit for Other Dependents, see the instructions for Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) PDF.

A3. This amount will depend on the following factors:

1. You received advance Child Tax Credit payments for a qualifying child. You may have received a portion of your Child Tax Credit through advance Child Tax Credit payments during 2021. Generally, the total amount of advance payments for each of your qualifying children equaled 50 percent of the amount of the credit that the IRS estimated you would be eligible to claim on your 2021 tax return for those children. For information on how the IRS estimated the amount of your advance Child Tax Credit payments, see Q A4.
2. You didn’t receive advance Child Tax Credit payments for a qualifying child. If you didn’t receive one or more monthly advance Child Tax Credit payments in 2021 for a qualifying child, you can still receive those payments – and the remaining amount of your credit – by claiming the Child Tax Credit for that child when you file a 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. This includes families who don't normally need to file a return.
3. Your family experienced life changes during 2021. Changes throughout 2021, such as a change in filing status, change in the number of your qualifying children, or a change in your income could increase or decrease the amount of Child Tax Credit you are eligible to claim on your 2021 tax return. Families who received advance Child Tax Credit payments will need to compare the advance Child Tax Credit payments that they received in 2021 with the amount of the Child Tax Credit that they can properly claim on their 2021 tax return.

For more information regarding how to claim the full amount of your Child Tax Credit, see Topic C: Reconciling Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on Your 2021 Tax Return, and Topic D: Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit If You Don’t Normally File a Tax Return.

A4. The IRS determined your advance Child Tax Credit payment amounts by estimating the amount of the Child Tax Credit that you may properly claim on your 2021 tax return filed during the 2022 tax filing season.

Our estimate was based on information shown on your processed 2020 tax return (including information you entered in the Child Tax Credit Non-filer Sign-up Tool in 2021).

If we hadn’t processed your 2020 tax return when we determined the amount of your advance Child Tax Credit payment for any month, we estimated the amount of your 2021 Child Tax Credit based on information shown on your 2019 tax return (including information you entered in the Non-Filer Tool on IRS.gov in 2020). Generally, once we processed your 2020 return, we recalculated your advance Child Tax Credit payments and adjusted any remaining monthly payments.

You may claim the remaining amount of your 2021 Child Tax Credit when you file your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season.

For more information regarding how to claim the full amount of your Child Tax Credit, see Topic C: Reconciling Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on Your 2021 Tax Return, and Topic D: Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit If You Don’t Normally File a Tax Return.

A5. Yes, if your 2021 income is high enough, the amount of Child Tax Credit you can claim will be reduced.  The amount of your Child Tax Credit will not be reduced if your 2021 modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is at or below:

• $150,000 if you are married and filing a joint return, or if you are filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
• $112,500 if you are filing as a head of household; or
• $75,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return.

A6. For purposes of the Child Tax Credit, your modified AGI is your “adjusted gross income” (from line 11 of your 2021 Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR), plus the following amounts that may apply to you:

• Any amount on line 45 or line 50 of the 2021 Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income.
• Any amount excluded from gross income because it was received from sources in Puerto Rico or American Samoa.

If you do not have any of the above, your modified AGI is the same as your AGI.

A7. The Child Tax Credit is reduced (“phased out”) in two different steps, which are based on your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021.

The first phaseout can reduce the Child Tax Credit down to $2,000 per child.

• That is, the first phaseout step can reduce only the $1,600 increase for qualifying children age 5 and under, and the $1,000 increase for qualifying children age 6 through 17, at the end of 2021.

The second phaseout can reduce the remaining Child Tax Credit down to zero per child.

For additional information on the amounts of modified AGI that reduce the 2021 Child Tax Credit, see Q A8 and Q A9.

A8. The Child Tax Credit begins to be reduced to $2,000 per child if your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021 exceeds:

• $150,000 if you are married and filing a joint return, or if you are filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
• $112,500 if you are filing as head of household; or
• $75,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return.

The first phaseout reduces the Child Tax Credit by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which your modified AGI exceeds the income threshold described above that applies to you.

Example:  Your family has one 10-year-old qualifying child. The amount of income that reduces the $3,000 Child Tax Credit under the first phaseout depends on your family’s filing status.  Specifically, the Child Tax Credit is reduced to $2,000 if modified AGI in 2021 exceeds:

• $169,000 if you are married and filing a joint return, or if you are filing as a qualifying widow or widower;
• $131,500 if you are filing as head of household; or
• $94,000 if you are a single filer or are married and filing a separate return.

A9. The second phaseout won’t begin to reduce the remaining Child Tax Credit until your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021 exceeds:

• $400,000 if married and filing a joint return; or
• $200,000 for all other filing statuses.

The second phaseout reduces, down to zero, the Child Tax Credit by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which your modified AGI exceeds the income threshold described above that applies to you.

A10. Yes, if you meet the main home requirement described below, your Child Tax Credit will be fully refundable even if you had no income during 2021.

Main Home Requirement: You — or your spouse, if you are married and filing a joint return — must have your main home in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia for more than half of 2021.

Important Rules:

• Your main home can be any location where you regularly live.
• Your main home may be your house, apartment, mobile home, shelter, temporary lodging, or other location and doesn’t need to be the same physical location throughout the taxable year.
• You don’t need a permanent address.
• If you are temporarily away from your main home because of illness, education, business, vacation, or military service, you are generally treated as living in your main home.

A11. It means that you do not need any income or need to owe any tax in 2021 to receive the full amount of the Child Tax Credit for which you are eligible.

A12. If you don’t meet the main home requirements outlined in Q A10, you may still qualify for a $3,000 or $3,600 Child Tax Credit for each qualifying child. However, the refundability of the credit is limited, similar to the 2020 Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. For more information, see Q B7 in Topic B: Eligibility Rules for Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on a 2021 Tax Return.

A13. No. Advance Child Tax Credit payments are not taxable and will not be reported as income on your 2021 tax return. Advance Child Tax Credit payments are advance payments of your Child Tax Credit for tax year 2021.

A14. Maybe. The total amount of advance Child Tax Credit payments that you received during 2021 was based on the IRS’s estimate of the amount of Child Tax Credit that you may properly claim on your 2021 tax return.

Important: If the total amount of your advance Child Tax Credit payments was greater than the Child Tax Credit amount that you may properly claim on your 2021 tax return, you may have to repay the excess amount on your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season – unless you qualify for repayment protection.

For example, if you received advance Child Tax Credit payments for two qualifying children properly claimed on your 2020 tax return, but you no longer have qualifying children in 2021, the advance Child Tax Credit payments that you received based on those children are added to your 2021 income tax unless you qualify for repayment protection.

For more information regarding your eligibility for repayment protection, and how to reconcile your advance Child Tax Credit payments with your Child Tax Credit on your 2021 tax return, see Topic C: Reconciling Advance Child Tax Credit Payments and Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit on Your 2021 Tax Return, and Topic D: Claiming the 2021 Child Tax Credit If You Don’t Normally File a Tax Return.

A15. No. Advance Child Tax Credit payments and any refund you receive as a result of claiming the Child Tax Credit cannot be counted as income when determining if you or anyone else is eligible for benefits or assistance, or how much you or anyone else can receive, under any federal program or under any state or local program financed in whole or in part with federal funds.

These programs include, but are not limited to, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps).

In addition, when determining eligibility for benefits or assistance, neither your tax refund nor any of your advance Child Tax Credit payments can be counted as a resource for at least 12 months after you receive it.

Important: Check with your local benefits coordinator to find out if your advance Child Tax Credit payments or your tax refund will affect those benefits.

A16. Yes. Refunds of an overpayment of a tax liability, including the portion to which your Child Tax Credit relates, may be reduced (that is, offset) for overdue taxes from previous years or other federal or state debts that you owe.

If you receive a refund after you file your 2021 tax return, any remaining Child Tax Credit amount to which you may be entitled may be a part of the calculation of whether you have an overpayment of your 2021 income tax liability. A refund of this overpayment may be subject to offset for tax debts or other federal or state debts you owe.

If you file a joint 2021 tax return with your spouse and receive a refund, any refund of your 2021 overpayment may be subject to offset for tax debts or other federal or state debts your spouse owes.

This is different from advance Child Tax Credit payments, which were not reduced (that is, offset) for overdue taxes from previous years or other federal or state debts that you owe.

Important Note for Spouses: You can file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation, with your 2021 tax return to get your share of a joint refund that would otherwise be applied to your spouse’s debt.

Form 8379 is filed by one spouse (the injured spouse) on a jointly filed tax return when the joint overpayment was (or is expected to be) applied (offset) to a past-due obligation of the other spouse. By filing Form 8379, the injured spouse may be able to get back his or her share of the joint refund.

A17. Yes. Refunds of an overpayment of a tax liability, including the portion to which your Child Tax Credit relates, may be reduced (that is, offset) for overdue taxes from previous years or other federal or state debts that you owe.

If you receive a refund after you file your 2021 tax return, any remaining Child Tax Credit amount to which you may be entitled may be a part of the calculation of whether you have an overpayment of your 2021 income tax liability. A refund of this overpayment may be subject to offset for past-due child support.

This is different from advance Child Tax Credit payments, which were not reduced (that is, offset) for past-due child support.

Important Note for Spouses: You can file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation, with your 2021 tax return to get your share of a joint refund that would otherwise be applied to your spouse’s debt.

Form 8379 is filed by one spouse (the injured spouse) on a jointly filed tax return when the joint overpayment was (or is expected to be) applied (offset) to a past-due obligation of the other spouse. By filing Form 8379, the injured spouse may be able to get back his or her share of the joint refund.

A18. Yes. To the extent permitted by state and local laws, your tax refund may be subject to garnishment by your state, local government, and private creditors. This includes garnishment in a court order involving a non-federal party (which can include fines related to a crime, administrative court fees, restitution, and other court-ordered debts).

This is also true for advance Child Tax Credit payments, which were not exempt from garnishment by non-federal creditors under federal law.

A19. Yes. If you have reported that you’re a victim of tax-related identity theft, the IRS did not disburse advance Child Tax Credit payments to you unless your tax-related identity theft issue was resolved in 2021.

If you didn’t receive advance Child Tax Credit payments in 2021 for a qualifying child, you may claim the full amount of your allowable Child Tax Credit for that child when you file your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season. However, the IRS will not disburse a tax refund to you until your tax-related identity theft issue has been resolved.

If you believe you are a victim of tax-related identity theft and have not reported the tax-related identity theft issue to the IRS, you should take steps to protect yourself. Notify the IRS by filing a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit PDF, through IdentityTheft.gov or filing the paper Form 14039.