Child Tax Credit 2027: IRS Release Status, the 2026 Amounts and Calculator
The IRS has not released the 2027 child tax credit amounts as of October 31, 2026. For tax year 2026, the returns you file in 2027, the credit is up to $2,200 for each qualifying child under 17, and up to $1,700 per child of it is refundable. This page does not publish a projection; the calculator below uses the 2026 amounts until the IRS releases 2027.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Amounts checked against IRS and statute text on October 31, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Child tax credit 2027 calculator
Your numbers for tax year 2026
These are the 2026 amounts until the IRS releases 2027, for the return you file in 2027.
Adjusted gross income, plus any income you exclude for Puerto Rico, foreign earned income or American Samoa. This is line 3 of Schedule 8812.
Wages, tips and net self-employment earnings (Schedule 8812 line 18a). It decides the refundable part.
Your income tax after other nonrefundable credits: line 18 of Form 1040 minus the credits listed on Credit Limit Worksheet A in the Schedule 8812 instructions. Use 0 if you owe no income tax.
The starting numbers are an example, not a recommendation. Replace them with yours.
Your estimated 2026 credit
Total child tax credit and credit for other dependents
$4,400
An estimate. Your return and the IRS decide the actual amount.
- Reduces your tax (nonrefundable)
- $2,000
- Refundable (additional child tax credit)
- $2,400
- Reduction for income
- $0
Draft 2026 IRS forms: to receive a refund of the ACTC, you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or qualified alien (draft 2026 instructions for Schedule 8812, draft and subject to change). This calculator does not check it, so check the rule before you rely on the refundable amount.
- Credit before the income limit: 2 qualifying children x $2,200 + 0 other dependents x $500 = $4,400.
- Income limit: modified AGI of $60,000 is not over the $200,000 threshold, so there is no reduction.
- Credit after the income limit: $4,400.
- Nonrefundable credit: the smaller of $4,400 and the tax of $2,000, which is $2,000.
- Left for the refundable credit: $2,400. Refundable cap: 2 x $1,700 = $3,400.
- 15% of earned income over $2,500: 15% x ($60,000 - $2,500) = $8,625.
- Refundable credit (additional child tax credit): the smallest of $2,400, $3,400 and $8,625, which is $2,400.
- Total credit: $2,000 + $2,400 = $4,400.
An estimate that follows the line arithmetic of the 2025 Schedule 8812 with the 2026 amounts, because the 2027 amounts are not released.
What the calculator leaves out
The result is an estimate. It does not check or include:
- Whether each child passes the qualifying-child tests. You enter the counts, and only children with a valid Social Security number count as qualifying children.
- The U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or qualified alien rule in the draft 2026 Schedule 3-A, which the draft instructions tie to a refund of the ACTC.
- Three or more qualifying children: the alternative refundable computation in Part II-B of Schedule 8812. The result says when it might give more.
- Nontaxable combat pay, Credit Limit Worksheet B, Form 2555 filers, bona fide residents of Puerto Rico, and short tax years.
- Your tax liability: you enter it from your return.
The child tax credit 2026 page has the full rules, the quotes from the statute and the IRS instructions, and the refund timing.
IRS release status
Not released as of October 31, 2026. The IRS page that lists each year’s adjustments has 2026 as its latest entry and describes the pattern:
“Each fall, the IRS issues two documents detailing the results of these adjustments for the coming year.”
Last year the IRS announced the 2026 amounts on October 9, 2025 (news release IR-2025-103). When it publishes the tax year 2027 revenue procedure, this page switches to the 2027 amounts. The 2027 federal tax brackets and 2027 standard deduction pages track the same release.
2026 and 2027 child tax credit amounts
The 2026 amounts come from section 4.05 of Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (IRS):
“(1) Maximum amount of the credit. For taxable years beginning in 2026, the maximum amount of the credit allowed under § 24(a) is $2,200. (2) Refundable portion. For taxable years beginning in 2026, the amount used in § 24(d)(1)(A) to determine the amount of the credit under § 24 that may be refundable is $1,700.”
“In addition, the OBBBA amends § 24(h)(2) to provide that the maximum amount of child tax credit is $2,200 for any taxable year beginning in 2025. This amount is adjusted for inflation for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.”
| Item | Tax year 2026 (filed in 2027) | Tax year 2027 (filed in 2028) |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum credit per qualifying child | $2,200 | Not released |
| Refundable part, per qualifying child | $1,700 | Not released |
| Credit for other dependents, each | $500 | $500 (fixed in the statute) |
| Refundable credit: earned income over | $2,500 | $2,500 (fixed in the statute) |
| Income limit starts: married filing jointly | $400,000 | $400,000 (fixed in the statute) |
| Income limit starts: all other filing statuses | $200,000 | $200,000 (fixed in the statute) |
2026: Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.05, and 26 U.S.C. 24(h). 2027: the IRS has not published the first two rows; the other rows are fixed dollar amounts in section 24, explained below.
How the 2027 child tax credit is set
The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21 (July 4, 2025), section 70104 (congress.gov), rewrote the inflation rule in section 24(i):
“Section 24(i) is amended to read as follows:”
The text of 26 U.S.C. 24(i) now reads:
“(1) Maximum amount of refundable credit In the case of a taxable year beginning after 2024, the $1,400 amount in subsection (h)(5) shall be increased by an amount equal to— (A) such dollar amount, multiplied by (B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, determined by substituting “2017” for “2016” in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.”
“(2) Special rule for adjustment of credit amount In the case of a taxable year beginning after 2025, the $2,200 amount in subsection (h)(2) shall be increased by an amount equal to— (A) such dollar amount, multiplied by (B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable year begins, determined by substituting “2024” for “2016” in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.”
“If any increase under this subsection is not a multiple of $100, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $100.”
In plain words: the $2,200 credit is increased by its amount times the cost-of-living adjustment with 2024 as the base year, and the $1,400 refundable base amount by the same kind of adjustment with 2017 as the base year. Then the increase, not the whole amount, is rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $100. The adjustment is the percentage (if any) by which the chained CPI-U for the preceding calendar year, averaged over the 12 months ending August 31, exceeds the base-year figure (26 U.S.C. 1(f)(3), (6)); for a taxable year beginning in 2027 the preceding calendar year is 2026.
FedRateCalc does not publish a projection of the 2027 amounts. The result is a price index turned into dollars and rounded down in steps of $100, so a small error in an estimate changes the final figure, and only the IRS revenue procedure counts on your return.
What does not change
Section 24(i) adjusts only two amounts, the refundable amount and the credit amount. The rest are fixed dollar amounts in section 24(h), so they are the same in the 2027 column unless Congress changes them: the income limit thresholds, the $500 credit for other dependents and the earned income figure for the refundable part.
“In lieu of the amount determined under subsection (b)(2), the threshold amount shall be $400,000 in the case of a joint return ($200,000 in any other case).”
“The credit determined under subsection (a) (after the application of paragraph (2)) shall be increased by $500 for each dependent of the taxpayer (as defined in section 152) other than a qualifying child described in subsection (c).”
“Subsection (d)(1)(B)(i) shall be applied by substituting “$2,500” for “$3,000”.”
The Social Security number rules and the $50 reduction for each $1,000 over the threshold are also unchanged; see the child tax credit 2026 page for the statute text and a table of income-limit examples.
Refundable part and the draft 2026 forms
As of October 31, 2026 the IRS has posted a draft 2026 Schedule 8812, the draft instructions for it (dated August 18, 2026) and a draft 2026 Schedule 3-A, Federal Public Benefit. Each is marked as a draft, not for filing, and subject to change. The draft instructions limit who can receive a refund of the ACTC:
“Limits on the refund of the ACTC. To receive a refund of the ACTC, you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or qualified alien. See the instructions for Schedule 3-A (Form 1040).”
The draft Schedule 3-A asks the question in its line 8:
“Are you or your spouse a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or qualified alien? See instructions. Yes. Enter -0- here and on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 32b. If you are filing Form 1040-SS, enter -0- on Part I, line 12b. No. Enter the amount from line 6 here and on Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, line 32b.”
This calculator does not apply that rule, and a draft can change before the final form. Check the final forms and instructions when the IRS publishes them. The earned income credit 2026 page covers the other refundable credit, and the 2027 standard deduction page the deduction side of the same return.
Frequently asked questions
What is the child tax credit for 2027?
As of October 31, 2026 the 2027 child tax credit amount is not released: the IRS has not published the annual inflation-adjustment revenue procedure for tax year 2027. Last year it published the 2026 amounts in Rev. Proc. 2025-32 on October 9, 2025 (IR-2025-103). Until the 2027 amounts are out, this page shows the official 2026 amounts, and we update it when the IRS publishes them.
How much is the child tax credit on the return I file in 2027?
The tax year 2026 amount: up to $2,200 for each qualifying child under 17 at the end of 2026, and up to $1,700 per child of it can be refundable (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.05). The 2027 amounts are for the return you file in 2028.
How will the IRS set the 2027 child tax credit?
Under 26 U.S.C. 24(i), the $2,200 credit amount is increased for a taxable year beginning after 2025 by a cost-of-living adjustment with 2024 as the base year, and the refundable amount, which starts at $1,400, by one with 2017 as the base year. The adjustment is the percentage (if any) by which the chained CPI-U for the preceding calendar year, averaged over the 12 months ending August 31, exceeds the base-year figure. Each increase is rounded down to the next lowest multiple of $100.
Will the income limits or the $500 credit for other dependents change in 2027?
Section 24(i) adjusts only the credit amount and the refundable amount. The $200,000 ($400,000 joint) phaseout threshold, the $500 credit for other dependents and the $2,500 earned income figure are fixed dollar amounts in the statute, so they stay the same in 2027 unless Congress changes them.
Who can receive the refundable part under the draft 2026 IRS forms?
The draft 2026 instructions for Schedule 8812 say that to receive a refund of the ACTC you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or qualified alien, and point to the draft 2026 Schedule 3-A. Both are marked draft, not for filing and subject to change, and the IRS has not posted final 2026 versions as of October 31, 2026. The calculator on this page does not check that rule.
Why does this page not show an estimate of the 2027 amount?
The statute turns a price index into dollars and then rounds the increase down to a multiple of $100, so a small error in an estimate changes the final dollar amount, and only the IRS figure counts on your return. This page shows the official 2026 amounts and the rule that sets 2027, and no projection.
Do I need a Social Security number to claim the credit?
Yes. Each qualifying child needs a Social Security number valid for employment, issued before the due date of the return, and so does the taxpayer; on a joint return at least one spouse needs one. A child without one may be claimable for the $500 credit for other dependents. The 2026 child tax credit page has the statute text.
Sources (checked October 31, 2026): IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments) · 26 U.S.C. 24 (uscode.house.gov) · 26 U.S.C. 24 (uscode.house.gov) (Cornell LII copy) · Pub. L. 119-21, section 70104 (congress.gov) · IRS draft 2026 Schedule 8812 (Form 1040) (draft, not for filing) · IRS draft 2026 Instructions for Schedule 8812 (draft, not for filing) · IRS draft 2026 Schedule 3-A, Federal Public Benefit (draft, not for filing) · IRS inflation-adjusted tax items by tax year