What this line means
Your modified adjusted gross income for purposes of the child tax credit. For most filers, this is the same as your AGI from Form 1040 line 11a. 1 If you excluded income earned abroad (Form 2555) or income from Puerto Rico or American Samoa, you add those excluded amounts back. This modified AGI determines whether your child tax credit gets reduced by the phaseout.
Does this apply to you?
- You are claiming the child tax credit or credit for other dependents and need to determine your phaseout
- You have qualifying children under age 17 or other dependents
- You excluded foreign earned income on Form 2555 and need to add it back for this calculation
Easy to overlook
Foreign earned income exclusion gets added back You took the foreign earned income exclusion on Form 2555 to reduce your AGI, but Schedule 8812 adds that excluded income back in. A filer living abroad with $120,000 in excluded income might think their AGI is low enough for the full credit, but modified AGI on line 4 restores the exclusion and may trigger the phaseout. 2 IRS Schedule 8812 instructions — modified AGI definition
Modified AGI is not the same as MAGI for other purposes Different credits and deductions define “modified AGI” differently. The version used on Schedule 8812 only adds back foreign earned income exclusions and certain Puerto Rico/American Samoa income. The MAGI used for Roth IRA contributions or ACA subsidies has different add-backs. You cannot reuse a MAGI calculation from another form here. 3 IRS Schedule 8812 instructions — line 4 computation
Watch out for this
Using taxable income instead of AGI. Line 4 starts with your AGI from Form 1040 line 11a — not your taxable income from line 15. Taxable income is after deductions; AGI is before. Using taxable income understates your modified AGI and can make it look like you qualify for a larger credit than you actually do.
Footnotes
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IRS Schedule 8812 Instructions, Modified AGI Definition. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 ↩
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IRS Schedule 8812 Instructions, Line 4. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 ↩
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IRS Schedule 8812 Instructions. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 ↩