What this line means
Your child tax credit after the income-based phaseout reduction. You subtract the phaseout amount on line 9 from the initial credit on line 6. If the phaseout reduction exceeds your initial credit, this line is zero — the credit cannot go negative. This is the maximum child tax credit portion before comparing to your tax liability.
Does this apply to you?
- You are calculating the child tax credit and have completed the phaseout computation
- Your modified AGI is above the phaseout threshold and you need to see what credit remains
Easy to overlook
A zero on this line does not mean zero total credit Even if the child tax credit phases out completely, you may still have a credit for other dependents on line 12. The phaseout reduces the CTC first. Filers who see zero here sometimes stop filling out the form, missing the other dependents credit they are still entitled to. 1 IRS Schedule 8812 instructions — line 10 computation
Most filers have no phaseout reduction at all The $200,000/$400,000 thresholds are high enough that the vast majority of families see line 10 equal line 6. If your modified AGI is below the threshold, the phaseout is zero and the credit passes through in full. You still fill in this line — it just equals line 6. 2 IRC Section 24(b) — credit cannot be less than zero
Watch out for this
Entering a negative number. If the phaseout reduction on line 9 exceeds the initial credit on line 6, you enter zero on line 10 — not a negative number. A negative entry would incorrectly reduce the credit for other dependents when the two credits are combined on line 13.
Footnotes
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IRS Schedule 8812 Instructions, Line 10. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 ↩
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IRC Section 24(b), Credit Floor. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/24 ↩