What the result means
The first result is the maximum combined 2026 Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents left after the Schedule 8812 modified-AGI phaseout. It is a ceiling before the nonrefundable tax-liability limit. It is not the amount of a refund and it is not the tax on your income.
If you choose the detailed regular path, the calculator next estimates how much of that ceiling can be used as nonrefundable credit and how much may be available as the Additional Child Tax Credit. The detailed path is intentionally limited to ordinary cases with zero, one, or two qualifying children. It stops instead of simplifying the special three-or-more-child method.
Three credits are easy to confuse
The Child Tax Credit, commonly shortened to CTC, can be worth up to $2,200 for each qualifying child in 2026. The CTC first reduces eligible federal income tax and is nonrefundable: by itself, it cannot reduce tax below zero.
The Additional Child Tax Credit, or ACTC, is the potentially refundable portion. For 2026 its per-child cap is $1,700. The regular earned-income method generally uses 15% of earned income above $2,500, but the credit is also limited by unused credit after the tax-liability calculation and by the number of qualifying children.
The Credit for Other Dependents, or ODC, can be up to $500 per qualifying dependent. It is nonrefundable. An ODC amount can be part of the combined credit remaining after the income phaseout, but it does not create a per-dependent ACTC cap.
Confirm qualifying children before counting them
A qualifying child for the CTC is generally under age 17 at the end of the tax year and must satisfy dependency, relationship, residency, support, citizenship, and joint-return requirements. The child must have a Social Security number valid for employment that was issued by the due date of the return, including extensions.
The taxpayer claiming the CTC must also meet the identification requirement. On a joint return, current IRS guidance and Schedule 8812 instructions generally require at least one spouse to have the required work-valid SSN. Do not enter a child just because the child lived in the household; all applicable tests still matter.
Shared custody, divorced or separated parents, a multiple-support agreement, a child who could be claimed by more than one person, or uncertainty about a joint return can change who may claim the credit. Use the special path until the dependency and tiebreaker rules are resolved.
Other dependents use different rules
A dependent who is too old for the Child Tax Credit may still qualify for the $500 ODC. Certain qualifying relatives can also be eligible. The required taxpayer identification number and citizenship or residency rules are not identical to the CTC child rules.
Do not move an uncertain person into the other-dependent box merely because that produces a number. Confirm that the person is a dependent and meets the ODC requirements in the current instructions.
A college student can also raise a separate education-credit question. The 2026 American Opportunity Tax Credit Calculator checks AOTC student status, school records, adjusted education expenses, and the 2026 income phaseout; it does not decide whether the student is a dependent or qualifies for the CTC or ODC.
How the income phaseout works
The phaseout begins when modified AGI exceeds $400,000 for married filing jointly or $200,000 for every other filing status. Schedule 8812 subtracts the applicable threshold, then rounds a positive excess up to the next multiple of $1,000. The credit is reduced by 5% of that rounded amount, which is $50 for each $1,000 or part of $1,000.
For example, an excess of exactly $1,000 produces a $50 reduction. An excess of $1,000.01 rounds up to $2,000 and produces a $100 reduction. This is why the calculator shows both the actual excess and the rounded phaseout amount.
The phaseout applies to the combined maximum CTC and ODC. Once the calculated reduction reaches that combined maximum, no credit remains under this phaseout calculation.
Modified AGI is not taxable income
The relevant input follows the modified adjusted gross income calculation near the beginning of Schedule 8812. It starts from adjusted gross income and can include specified amounts excluded from income. Taxable income, gross wages, household take-home pay, and a refund are different numbers.
If a foreign earned-income, foreign housing, Puerto Rico, or American Samoa adjustment may apply, calculate the official modified-AGI line first. Form 2555 also affects ACTC eligibility, so users with that form should choose the special path.
The tax-liability limit controls the nonrefundable portion
After the income phaseout, Schedule 8812 compares the credit with the available tax calculated through its Credit Limit Worksheet. That worksheet starts with tax and subtracts specified credits that are ordered before the CTC and ODC.
Credit Limit Worksheet A fits many standard returns, while Worksheet B applies when specified other credits or forms are present. Withholding and estimated payments do not belong in this field because they are payments, not the tax-liability limit.
If available tax is at least as large as the post-phaseout credit, the full amount can be used as nonrefundable CTC or ODC and no unused amount remains for the ACTC calculation. If available tax is lower, the unused portion may proceed to the ACTC limits.
The regular ACTC estimate has three ceilings
Under the regular earned-income method, the calculator first subtracts $2,500 from entered earned income and takes 15% of the positive remainder. It then compares that amount with the unused post-phaseout credit and the $1,700-per-qualifying-child cap. The smallest is the modeled ACTC.
For example, $20,000 of earned income produces a regular earned-income ceiling of $2,625: 15% of $17,500. With one qualifying child, the $1,700 per-child cap is lower, so no more than $1,700 can be modeled before other restrictions.
The result can still differ from a refund. Refundable credits are combined with tax, withholding, estimated payments, and other payments on the complete return.
Three or more children require a special comparison
Schedule 8812 Part II-B can provide an alternative ACTC calculation for a taxpayer with three or more qualifying children. It can involve Social Security and Medicare taxes, the deductible portion of self-employment tax, Additional Medicare Tax, and the earned income credit. Those values cannot be reconstructed honestly from a child count and salary.
This calculator therefore provides the income-phaseout ceiling but does not claim to calculate the final ACTC split for that path. Use the final Schedule 8812, Part II-B, return software, and verified payroll or self-employment amounts.
Some situations should stop before arithmetic
Use current instructions or qualified help when Form 2555 is filed, Puerto Rico residency rules apply, a prior credit disallowance may require Form 8862, a child’s identification number changed or was issued late, or the return uses nonresident rules. The standard calculator also does not decide foster-child status, kidnapped-child rules, deceased-child rules, adoption identification, or whether a dependent is a U.S. citizen, national, or resident.
The earned income credit is separate from the CTC and ACTC. State child credits are also separate. A result here should not be copied into either calculation.
Use the final 2026 filing forms
The 2026 dollar amounts used here come from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32: a $2,200 maximum CTC and $1,700 refundable limit per qualifying child. The current IRS Child Tax Credit page explains the $500 ODC, $2,500 earned-income threshold, identification requirements, and $200,000 or $400,000 phaseout thresholds.
The calculation structure follows the current Schedule 8812 and its instructions, including the 5% phaseout, rounding up to the next multiple of $1,000, Credit Limit Worksheet A, regular 15% ACTC method, and special Part II-B path. The final 2026 Schedule 8812 was not yet published when this page was reviewed; verify the filing-year form before preparing the return.
This calculator provides educational 2026 federal credit arithmetic, not tax preparation, tax, legal, accounting, immigration, custody, or financial advice. It does not establish filing status, dependency, qualifying-child status, identification eligibility, modified AGI, earned income, tax liability, other-credit ordering, a refund, EITC, state credits, or the final return entry. Verify the final 2026 Schedule 8812, instructions, records, software, and qualified guidance. Official sources were accessed July 27, 2026.