$2,200 per child for 2026, a new Social Security number rule, and a $1,000 government deposit that only arrives if you ask for it.
The Child Tax Credit is the biggest single tax break most families with children get, and it is now permanent and indexed for inflation. The 2025 tax law also created an investment account for children under 18, seeded with $1,000 of federal money for children born from 2025 through 2028. The credit arrives automatically if your return is prepared right. The deposit does not.
Current as of October 2026 · Figures are for tax year 2026
The credit uses the same definition of a child as the rest of the tax code, with one extra condition: age.
Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child placed by an agency or court, brother, sister, stepsibling, half-sibling, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild or niece.
Under 17 at the end of the year. A child who turns 17 on December 31 does not qualify for that year. This is stricter than the dependent rules, which reach older teenagers and students.
The child lived with you more than half the year, did not pay more than half of their own support, is a U.S. citizen, national or resident, and is claimed as your dependent.
The child must have an SSN that is valid for employment, issued before the return’s due date. A child with an ITIN cannot get this credit. Changed Starting with 2025 returns, at least one parent claiming the credit must also have an SSN.
If the child fails only the age test, or has an ITIN instead of an SSN, the $500 credit for other dependents usually applies instead. The full dependent rules and tie-breakers are on our dependents page.
Two numbers matter: the credit, and the part you can get back even if you owe no tax.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Credit per qualifying child under 17 | $2,200 |
| Refundable portion per child (the “additional child tax credit”) | up to $1,700 |
| Credit for other dependents (17 and older, parents, ITIN children) | $500 |
| Phase-out begins, single or head of household | $200,000 |
| Phase-out begins, married filing jointly | $400,000 |
| Reduction above the line | $50 per $1,000 |
The $2,200 is indexed for inflation from here on. The $500 credit for other dependents is not refundable and is not indexed. Both credits are figured on Schedule 8812.
The credit first reduces the tax you owe. If it reduces your tax to zero with credit left over, up to $1,700 per child can come back to you as a refund. That refundable part is figured from your earned income, so a family with very little earned income gets little or none of it. A family with two children and $3,000 of tax uses $3,000 of the $4,400 credit and can receive the remaining $1,400 as a refund.
The phase-out is gentle and most families never reach it. A couple with two children loses $50 for every $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income above $400,000, so their $4,400 credit is gone at $488,000. The thresholds are not indexed. More on phase-outs for higher earners.
The $500 credit for other dependents covers dependents who are not qualifying children for this credit: a 17- or 18-year-old still at home, a college student, a parent you support, or a child with an ITIN. It only reduces tax; it is never refunded.
Every Social Security number on a return is matched against Social Security’s records when the return is filed. A card that says “Not valid for employment” disqualifies the child from the $2,200 credit even though the child is a legitimate dependent. We check the card, not just the number, because a return that claims the wrong credit is either rejected or quietly reduced by the IRS months later, with a letter.
For tax purposes the child lives with one parent, and the credit follows the child.
The parent the child lived with for more nights during the year is the custodial parent and claims the child, whatever the divorce decree says. A decree binds the parents, not the IRS.
The custodial parent can let the other parent claim the child by signing Form 8332, a release for one year or a stated set of years. The non-custodial parent attaches it to their return and gets the Child Tax Credit. What they do not get is head of household status, the earned income credit, or the dependent care credit; those stay with the parent the child lives with and cannot be released. The child and dependent care credit and the earned income credit.
If both parents claim the same child, the second return filed is rejected and the IRS sorts out the duplicate claim with letters to both households. That takes months; signing the form in advance is far easier.
Created by the 2025 tax law. Part savings plan, part government deposit, and new enough that some details are still being worked out.
An investment account for any child under 18 who is a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number. The money is invested in low-cost U.S. stock index funds; the law does not allow other choices. The account belongs to the child, and in general nothing comes out until the child turns 18.
Children born in 2025, 2026, 2027 or 2028 can receive a one-time $1,000 deposit from the federal government. It is not automatic. A parent must elect it on Form 4547, filed with the tax return, or through trumpaccounts.gov. We file the form with your return; bring the child’s Social Security card or call 303-734-1040.
Our take: if your child was born in the window, claim it. There is no catch we can find in the law, and $1,000 invested at birth has a long time to grow.
Contributions became possible on July 4, 2026. Parents, grandparents and anyone else can add up to $5,000 a year per child in total. An employer may contribute up to $2,500 of that $5,000 as a benefit, and the employer’s contribution is excluded from the parent’s income. Contributions from family are made with money that has already been taxed; there is no deduction for putting money in, as we read the law.
At 18 the account converts to something that works like a traditional IRA. Growth was never taxed year by year; how withdrawals are taxed after 18, and what penalties apply to early ones, follow IRA-style rules the IRS was still filling in as of this writing.
Which institutions will offer the accounts and what they will charge; how the deposit arrives if the election is made late; and how Colorado will treat the account. We will update this page as guidance arrives.
Before a family puts its own money into a Trump account, we compare it with a 529 plan and, for a teenager with a job, a Roth IRA. A 529 earns a Colorado deduction and comes out tax-free for school; a Roth comes out tax-free in retirement; a Trump account, as the law reads today, comes out taxed like a traditional IRA. The free $1,000 is worth taking in every case. Where the next dollar goes depends on what the money is for. 529 plans and other education savings and Roth IRAs.
Colorado starts from your federal taxable income and taxes it at a flat 4.40%, so the federal credit itself does not change your Colorado return.
Colorado has its own, separate child tax credit for lower-income families with children under 6, with income limits. If your income is modest, we check it every year.
Colorado has not yet said how it will treat the accounts. Because it starts from federal taxable income, the likely answer is that it follows the federal treatment unless the legislature acts. What changed in Colorado for 2026.
No. The child must be under 17 at the end of the year. You get the $500 credit for other dependents instead, as long as the child is still your dependent.
Part of it. Up to $1,700 per child is refundable, depending on your earned income. The remaining $500 per child, and the $500 credit for other dependents, only offset tax you owe.
The $1,000 goes into the account, not to you, and is not income to you. Growth inside the account is not taxed year by year. What happens when the money comes out after 18 follows IRA-style rules; we will update this page as the IRS fills in the details.
Yes, if the grandchild lived with you more than half the year and no parent with a higher claim is claiming the child. Grandparents raising grandchildren get the full $2,200.
We check every child’s SSN, every credit the child qualifies for, and the Trump account election. In person in Lone Tree or remotely, year round.
This page is general information, current as of October 2026, and is not advice about your situation. Tax law changes every year. Confirm anything that matters to you with us or at the sources below.