Changes to the Child Tax Credit for 2019

If you’re like me, you like to get every tax credit you can. I mean, who wants to pay more taxes than they absolutely have to?

The only problem with tax credits is it’s extremely hard to keep track of them all.

Tax credits are even more difficult to understand since the tax reform law passed by the Trump administration in December 2017 that doubled child tax credits.

In terms of tax credits, many faced sweeping changes with tax reform.

These higher standard deductions were enacted as a way to simplify our tax code since, from this point forward, there will also be no personal exemptions and fewer available deductions.

Here is a list of my absolute favorite tax preparation softwares to make filing easy for you this year: 

Read on for an overview of the 2019 Child Tax Credit and advice on how to get the maximum benefit from this tax break for your family.

Child Tax Credit Guide

What Is the Child Tax Credit?

The child tax credit is a beneficial credit offered to parents and guardians to help decrease their tax bill.

Rather than functioning like a deduction, the child tax credit operates as a tool that works toward reducing the amount you pay in taxes.

Whatever amount of the tax credit you receive is subtracted from the total of your tax bill, cutting down the amount you pay fairly significantly.

Parents or guardians with qualifying incomes can claim the full child tax credit amount for each of their dependent children.

This tax credit is one of the simplest and most rewarding tax breaks you’ll find, and it has doubled over the last two years, benefitting families even more than before.

How Much Can You Claim?

Your access to the child tax credit depends, in part, on your income, specifically your adjusted gross income.

Like the child tax credit amount, the phaseout limits for it have increased with the tax bill as well.

This year’s child tax credit amounts to $2000 per child.

Married couples filing jointly who make under $400,000 per year and single individuals, head of household, or married couples filing separately who earn less than $200,000 per year, will be able to take $2,000 per child as their Child Tax Credit.

This is one of the many tax cuts instituted by President George W. Bush early in his first term, geared towards giving families some relief at tax time.

When the Child Tax Credit came into existence in 1998, the per child amount was $400. Over the years, it has been increased substantially.

How Do You Claim the Credit on Your Taxes?

All the calculations and claiming of the Child Tax Credit are done on your normal itemized form 1040.

You can do all the calculations on schedule 8812 to make sure you get the maximum amount you qualify for.

One of the best ways to ensure you get the child tax credit and other tax refunds you qualify for is by filing with a tax software program.

If you are using tax software, all of the top tax software packages will automatically apply the CTC for you as you fill out your family information. 

My Top Picks for Tax Software

While there is a longer list of the best tax software services, there are three that stand out among the rest. The best software includes:

• TurboTax: TurboTax will ensure you get every dollar of credits available to you. You can read more in the full TurboTax review here.
• H&R Block: H&R Block also offers comprehensive tax filing assistance. You can learn more in my H&R Block review.
• Tax Act: Tax Act is user-friendly, affordable, and can help you file easily. Get all the details in my TaxAct.com review.

Signing up for any one of these services will make sure you get your maximum credit.

What Are the Income Limits for the Child Tax Credit?

While the income cutoff for the child tax credit used to start phasing out at $110,000 for married couples, it is now at $200,000 for the modified adjusted gross income.

Taxpayers who are married filing jointly with an adjusted gross income of $400,000 or less can receive the full credit.

Phase-outs for this credit will start at these income levels.

But beyond the basic income limits, there are a few more stipulations to qualifying for the child tax credit.

Who Can Claim the Child Tax Credit?

In addition to knowing your income, you should double check the requirements dictated by the IRS, listed below in order to be certain you qualify for all or some of the Child Tax Credit.

• Citizenship: Qualifying children must be citizens or residents of the United States who can be claimed as dependents by the taxpayer.
• Age: Children must not have reached the age of 17 by the end of the tax year.
• Relation: Children may be your blood children, grandchildren, stepchildren, and/or adopted children. Foster children also fall under this category as long as they have lived in your home for the entire year in question.
• Dependency: You must claim the child as a dependent. You need to claim the child as a dependent on your federal taxes in order to be eligible for the credit.
• Residence: The child must live with you. In fact, the child must have resided in your home for at least half of the tax year, although some exceptions apply.

Can You Get the Child Tax Credit as Part of Your Refund?

The short answer: yes. 

Generally speaking, the child tax credit functions as a credit against what the taxpayer owes in taxes.

Sometimes, however, it can translate into an actual tax refund or tax rebate.

Most tax credits fall into one of two categories: refundable and non-refundable.

As the name suggests, a refundable credit can boost your tax refund, whereas a non-refundable tax credit cannot. The Additional Child Tax Credit falls somewhere in between.

Form 1040 ultimately determines your eligibility for the child tax credit, and when you file with tax software you can get an idea of the type of return you can expect to receive.

How Can You Get the Additional Child Tax Credit?

In previous years, the child tax credit was 100% non-refundable, meaning if your tax bill totaled $0 and you qualified for the credit, you could get the full child tax credit amount in the form of a refund from the IRS.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act amended that rule, though, capping the amount of the additional child tax credit.

With the Additional Child Tax Credit, you could get a refund of up to $1400 if the child tax credit amount is higher than the taxes you owe.

If your income meets a minimum of $2500, you are eligible to receive $1400 of this credit as a refund, per child.

For a small percentage of families in the United States, the Child Tax Credit will be larger than their tax liability.

In this case, a portion of the unused part of the Child Tax Credit can be refundable as an additional Child Tax Credit.

What this means is, you can receive a refund from the IRS of up to $1,400 of the child tax credit back even if you don’t wind up owing any taxes.

That number has stayed the same between 2018 and 2019, just as the $2,000 tax credit amount has.

The Bottom Line

If you have kids and earn less than $400,000 as a married couple or $200,000 as an individual, changes to the Child Tax Credit will save you money on taxes in 2019.

However, your savings may be wiped away in other areas of the tax code, specifically because personal exemptions and several other deductions have been replaced with a higher standard deduction for everyone over the last few years.

Either way, make sure to speak with a tax professional if you’re unsure how the new tax law will affect you.

A bigger child tax credit is always a good thing, but it’s possible you could save even more on taxes with some professional guidance and help.