28 — Additional Child Tax Credit Updated for tax year 2025

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?

• You have qualifying children for the Child Tax Credit but your tax liability on line 18 was too low to use the full credit on line 19
• You have earned income above $2,500 and qualifying children under 17
• Your income is low enough that the nonrefundable CTC on line 19 did not fully offset your tax

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 [SOURCE: 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 [SOURCE: 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.

Related lines on your return

• Line 19 — Form 1040 — Child Tax Credit (nonrefundable portion); this is used first to reduce tax
• Schedule 8812 — Form 1040 — Calculates both the CTC and Additional CTC
• Line 33 — Form 1040 — Total payments; the Additional CTC adds to your total payments/refundable credits