What this line means
The refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit. When your Child Tax Credit on line 19 is limited because your tax liability is too low, the unclaimed portion (up to $1,700 per qualifying child for 2025) can be refunded to you here. This is a refundable credit — it pays you cash even if you owe zero tax. You must have earned income above $2,500 to qualify.
Does this apply to you?
Easy to overlook
You need earned income above $2,500 to qualify The Additional Child Tax Credit is calculated as 15% of earned income above $2,500, up to the unused CTC amount (capped at $1,700 per child). If your only income is from investments, Social Security, or pensions (not earned income), you do not qualify for this refundable portion. The earned income requirement catches filers who have children but no wages or self-employment income. 1 IRS Schedule 8812 instructions — Additional Child Tax Credit
Schedule 8812 is required to claim this credit You must complete Schedule 8812 to calculate the Additional Child Tax Credit, even if tax software does it automatically behind the scenes. Paper filers sometimes claim the credit on line 28 without attaching Schedule 8812, which causes the IRS to remove the credit and reduce the refund. 2 General filing pattern — refundable CTC not claimed
Watch out for this
Not claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit when you qualify. Some filers see that line 19 reduced their tax to zero and assume they received the full Child Tax Credit benefit. In reality, if you had unused CTC because your tax was too low, the remainder (up to $1,700 per child) is available as a refund on line 28. Leaving this line blank means leaving money on the table.
Footnotes
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IRS Schedule 8812 Instructions, Additional Child Tax Credit section. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 ↩
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IRS Form 1040 Instructions. See also IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf ↩