Child Tax Credit for 2025, explained
What the credit is worth per child, who counts, how much of it can come back as a refund, and the Social Security number rule that is new this year.
Quick answers
- What age does a child have to be for the child tax credit?
- Under 17 at the end of the year. The age test is strict, so a child who turned 17 during the year does not qualify whatever month the birthday fell in, though they generally support the smaller credit for other dependents.
- Can the child tax credit come back as a refund?
- Part of it can. The credit first reduces your tax, and the additional child tax credit refunds some of what is left, limited by your earned income. Wages and self-employment profit build it; unemployment, Social Security and investment income do not.
- Does my child need a Social Security number?
- Yes, a Social Security number valid for work, issued by the due date of the return. A child with only an ITIN can support the smaller credit for other dependents instead. Beginning with 2025 at least one filer on the return also needs a valid Social Security number.
The child tax credit reduces your tax dollar for dollar for each qualifying child, and part of it can come back as a refund even after your tax reaches zero. It is figured on Schedule 8812, which is attached to the return whenever the credit is claimed.
| Child tax credit per qualifying child | $2,200 | 2025 Schedule 8812 line 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Credit for other dependents, per dependent | $500 | 2025 Schedule 8812 line 7 |
| Refundable additional child tax credit, per child | $1,700 | 2025 Schedule 8812 line 16b |
| Child tax credit phase-out starts, all other statuses | $200,000 | 2025 Schedule 8812 line 9 |
| Child tax credit phase-out starts, married filing jointly | $400,000 | 2025 Schedule 8812 line 9 |
What it is worth
For 2025 the credit is $2,200 for each qualifying child who was under 17 at the end of the year and who has a Social Security number valid for work. The age test is strict: a child who turned 17 during the year does not qualify, no matter what month the birthday fell in.
The child also has to be your dependent under the usual rules — relationship, residency for more than half the year, support, and not filing a joint return — and has to be a US citizen, national or resident alien.
Dependents who are not qualifying children
Dependents who fail the age test or the Social Security number test are not lost. They generally support the credit for other dependents, $500 each. That covers a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old still at home, a college student you support, a parent you support, and a dependent with an individual taxpayer identification number rather than an SSN.
This second credit is not refundable. It can take your tax down, but it cannot produce a refund on its own.
Where the credit starts to shrink
Both credits phase out once modified adjusted gross income passes $200,000, or $400,000 on a joint return. Above the threshold the credit is reduced by a fixed percentage of the excess income, so it tapers rather than stopping at a cliff, and a large family keeps some credit further up the scale than a small one does.
The refundable part
The credit is first used to reduce tax. If the credit is larger than the tax, the additional child tax credit can refund some of what is left, up to $1,700 per qualifying child.
The refundable amount is limited by what you earned. It is 15% of your earned income above $2,500, so a household with little or no earned income gets little or none of it, and the refundable part grows with wages or self-employment profit until it reaches the per-child cap. Families with three or more qualifying children have an alternative calculation based on Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld, which occasionally produces a larger number.
The Social Security number rule for 2025
Beginning with tax year 2025, you also need a Social Security number, not only the child. On a joint return one spouse must have a valid SSN; the other needs an SSN or an ITIN issued by the due date of the return. Without it the child tax credit and the refundable additional child tax credit are both barred.
A filer with an ITIN and children who have SSNs can still claim the credit for other dependents at $500 per dependent. And a qualifying child who has no valid SSN by the due date cannot be used for the child tax credit on an original return or on an amended one later, so a pending Social Security card is worth an extension rather than a quick filing.
Schedule 8812 and what to have ready
- List each dependent on the return with the name and Social Security number exactly as they appear on the card.
- Separate the children who were under 17 at the end of the year from every other dependent, because the two groups take different credits.
- Have the earned income figure ready, since it drives the refundable part.
- If the credit was disallowed in an earlier year, file Form 8862 with the return to claim it again.
One more piece of timing. A refund on a return claiming the refundable child tax credit is held by law until mid-February, and the hold applies to the entire refund rather than the credit alone.