Child Tax Credit – Nonrefundable Credits (or Form 2555) Worksheet
The Child Tax Credit is a nonrefundable credit. This means if your tax liability is $0, you will not receive this credit because there is no tax to reduce. However, you may receive an additional child tax credit calculated on Schedule 8812, Additional Child Tax Credit, and reported on Line 28 of IRS Form 1040, U.S Individual Income Tax Return.
For more information, go to IRS Publication 972, Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents.
NOTE If you are claiming any of the following nonrefundable credits or excluding income from Puerto Rico, American Samoa, or other foreign earned income on Form 2555 Foreign Earned Income, you will need to use the various worksheets on pages 6-9 of IRS Publication 972 Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents to calculate the Child Tax Credit.
- Form 8396 Mortgage Interest Credit
- Form 8839 Qualified Adoption Expenses
- Form 5695 Residential Energy Credits
- Form 8859 Carryforward of the District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit
Entering in TaxAct
The TaxAct program contains the worksheets necessary to compute your Child Tax Credit and will calculate the credit based on your entries; however, you may need to make additional adjusting entries by following these steps:
TaxAct Online
- From within your TaxAct return, click Federal (on smaller devices, click the menu at the top left corner of your screen, then click Federal).
- Click Child tax credit.
- Continue with the interview process to enter your information.
Desktop
- From within your TaxAct return, click Topics Assistant
- From the topics list, click Federal to expand the dropdown list.
- Click Child tax credit.
- Continue with the interview process to enter your information.
You will see an outline of the children currently qualified for the Child Tax Credit and the credit amount applied to your return.