Child tax credit

Last updated

A child tax credit (CTC) is a tax credit for parents with dependent children given by various countries. The credit is often linked to the number of dependent children a taxpayer has and sometimes the taxpayer's income level. For example, with the Child Tax Credit in the United States, only families making less than $400,000 per year may claim the full CTC. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the tax credit is only available for families making less than £42,000 per year.

Contents

Germany

Germany has a programme called the "Kinderfreibetrag"  [ de ] which, despite technically being a tax exemption and not a tax credit, functions similarly. The child allowance is an allowance in German tax law, in which a certain amount of money is tax-free in the taxation of parents. In the income tax fee paid, child benefit and tax savings through the child tax credit are compared against each other, and the parents pay whichever results in the lesser amount of tax.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, a family with children and an income below about £32,200 could claim the child tax credit on top of child benefit. The tax credit is "non-wastable" it is paid whether or not the family has a net tax liability and is paid in or out of work. Higher rates are paid for disabled children. It is integrated with the working tax credit, which also provides support for childcare costs.

All taxable income is tested for the credit, so a couple who both work and have children, will have both salaries taken into account. Tax Credits may be capped which it is claimed could affect the poorest families disproportionately. On Monday 26 October 2015, the House of Lords voted for Labour Party proposals for financial redress to those affected by reduced entitlements. [1]

Since 2018 Child Tax Credit has been replaced by Universal Credit for most people. UK citizens may claim Child Benefit which is paid out by the UK tax authority HMRC and anyone earning less than £50,000 year will receive the full benefit. Anyone earning between £50,000 and £60,000 per year will need a percentage back with £60,000 or more per year paying the full amount back.

Currently, the only way to make a new claim for Child Tax Credit is if you have an existing Working Tax Credit claim. This will be phased out due to the government moving everyone over to Universal Credit and is expected to happen in 2024.

United States

Comparison of the expanded CTC and the CTC under the Tax and Jobs Act of 2017 for a married couple filing jointly (depicts amount of credit per child) Child tax credit ARP & TCJA Married.png
Comparison of the expanded CTC and the CTC under the Tax and Jobs Act of 2017 for a married couple filing jointly (depicts amount of credit per child)

The child tax credit is available to taxpayers who have children under the age of 17 (or in 2021 under the age of 18). Since 2018, the CTC is $2,000 per qualifying child. It is available in full to single filers who make up to $200,000 and married couples filing jointly who make up to $400,000. Above these limits, the CTC is phased out at the rate of $50 for each additional $1,000 earned. [2] When a taxpayer's credit value exceeds his or her tax liability, the taxpayer is eligible for the additional child tax credit (ACTC), which is calculated as 15% of the taxpayer's AGI in excess of $2,500 (i.e. a family must make at least $2,500 to be eligible for the credit), with the refund value capped at $1,400.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021 significantly expanded the child tax credit for one year, allowing qualifying families to offset $3,000 per child up to age 17 and $3,600 per child under age 6. It also made the credit fully-refundable and offered the option of receiving half of the credit as six monthly payments. 39 million households, covering 88% of children in the United States, will begin receiving these payments automatically beginning July 15, 2021. [3] The proposed Build Back Better Act would extend the expansion for an additional year and make the full refundability of the CTC permanent. [4]

The child tax credit has a significant effect on child poverty. In 2016, it was estimated to have lifted about 3 million children out of poverty. [5] In 2021, a Columbia University study estimated that the expansion of the CTC in the American Rescue Plan Act reduced child poverty by an additional 26%, and would have decreased child poverty by 40% had all eligible households claimed the credit. [6]

See also

Notes

  1. "Tax credits: No return to 'uncontrolled' spending says Osborne". BBC News. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  2. "Child Tax Credit" (PDF). irs.gov. Internal Revenue Service. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  3. "Treasury and IRS Announce Families of 88% of Children in the U.S. to Automatically Receive Monthly Payment of Refundable Child Tax Credit". IRS. Internal Revenue Service. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  4. Zhou, Li; Leber, Rebecca; Scott, Dylan; Matthews, Dylan (28 October 2021). "What's in — and what's out of — Biden's latest spending proposal". Vox . Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  5. M.S.R. (16 October 2017). "Why Ivanka Trump wants to extend the child tax credit". The Economist .
  6. Parolin, Zachary; Collyer, Sophie; Curran, Megan A.; Wimer, Christopher (20 August 2021). "Child poverty drops in July with the Child Tax Credit expansion" (PDF). Center on Policy and Social Policy. Columbia University. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.

Related Research Articles

A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "discount" applied in certain cases. Another way to think of a tax credit is as a rebate.

Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most countries, child benefit is means-tested and the amount of child benefit paid is usually dependent on the number of children one has.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payroll tax</span> Tax imposed on employers or employees

Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the employer, but almost all economists agree that the true economic incidence of a payroll tax is unaffected by this distinction, and falls largely or entirely on workers in the form of lower wages. Because payroll taxes fall exclusively on wages and not on returns to financial or physical investments, payroll taxes may contribute to underinvestment in human capital, such as higher education.

A tax refund or tax rebate is a payment to the taxpayer due to the taxpayer having paid more tax than they owed.

The Canada Child Benefit (CCB), previously the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), is an income-tested income support program for Canadian families. It is delivered as a tax-free monthly payment available to eligible Canadian families to help with the cost of raising children. The CCTB could incorporate the National Child Benefit (NCB), a monthly benefit for low-income families with children, and the Child Disability Benefit (CDB), a monthly benefit for families caring for children with severe and prolonged mental or physical disabilities.

Dividend imputation is a corporate tax system in which some or all of the tax paid by a company may be attributed, or imputed, to the shareholders by way of a tax credit to reduce the income tax payable on a distribution. In comparison to the classical system, it reduces or eliminates the tax disadvantages of distributing dividends to shareholders by only requiring them to pay the difference between the corporate rate and their marginal tax rate. The imputation system effectively taxes distributed company profit at the shareholders' average tax rates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Income tax in the United States</span> Form of taxation in the United States

The United States federal government and most state governments impose an income tax. They are determined by applying a tax rate, which may increase as income increases, to taxable income, which is the total income less allowable deductions. Income is broadly defined. Individuals and corporations are directly taxable, and estates and trusts may be taxable on undistributed income. Partnerships are not taxed, but their partners are taxed on their shares of partnership income. Residents and citizens are taxed on worldwide income, while nonresidents are taxed only on income within the jurisdiction. Several types of credits reduce tax, and some types of credits may exceed tax before credits. Most business expenses are deductible. Individuals may deduct certain personal expenses, including home mortgage interest, state taxes, contributions to charity, and some other items. Some deductions are subject to limits, and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) applies at the federal and some state levels.

Working Tax Credit (WTC) is a state benefit in the United Kingdom made to people who work and receive a low income. It was introduced in April 2003 and is a means-tested benefit. Despite the name, tax credits are not to be confused with tax credits linked to a person's tax bill, because they are used to top-up low wages. Unlike most other benefits, it is paid by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Income taxes in Canada constitute the majority of the annual revenues of the Government of Canada, and of the governments of the Provinces of Canada. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, the federal government collected just over three times more revenue from personal income taxes than it did from corporate income taxes.

Head of Household is a filing status for individual United States taxpayers. It provides preferential tax rates and a larger standard deduction for single people caring for qualifying dependents.

The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses forms for taxpayers and tax-exempt organizations to report financial information, such as to report income, calculate taxes to be paid to the federal government, and disclose other information as required by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). There are over 800 various forms and schedules. Other tax forms in the United States are filed with state and local governments.

The Household and Dependent Care Credit is a nonrefundable tax credit available to United States taxpayers. Taxpayers that care for a qualifying individual are eligible. The purpose of the credit is to allow the taxpayer to be gainfully employed. This credit is created by 26 U.S. Code (U.S.C) § 21, section 21 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).

An adoption tax credit is a tax credit offered to adoptive parents to encourage adoption in the United States. Section 36C of the United States Internal Revenue code offers a credit for “qualified adoption expenses” paid or incurred by individual taxpayers.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was an Act of Congress providing for several kinds of economic stimuli intended to boost the United States economy in 2008 and to avert a recession, or ameliorate economic conditions. The stimulus package was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on January 29, 2008, and in a slightly different version by the U.S. Senate on February 7, 2008. The Senate version was then approved in the House the same day. It was signed into law on February 13, 2008, by President George W. Bush with the support of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. The law provides for tax rebates to low- and middle-income U.S. taxpayers, tax incentives to stimulate business investment, and an increase in the limits imposed on mortgages eligible for purchase by government-sponsored enterprises. The total cost of this bill was projected at $152 billion for 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earned income tax credit</span> Refundable tax credit for low-to-middle class individuals in the U.S.

The United States federal earned income tax credit or earned income credit is a refundable tax credit for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with children. The amount of EITC benefit depends on a recipient's income and number of children. Low-income adults with no children are eligible. For a person or couple to claim one or more persons as their qualifying child, requirements such as relationship, age, and shared residency must be met.

The Lifetime Learning Credit, provided by 26 U.S.C. § 25A(b), is available to taxpayers in the United States who have incurred education expenses. For this credit to be claimed by a taxpayer, the student must attend school on at least a part-time basis. The credit can be claimed for education expenses incurred by the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or the taxpayer's dependent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax return</span> List of individuals monetary gains and losses over 12 months submitted to government each year

A tax return is the completion of documentation that calculates an entity or individual's income earned and the amount of taxes to be paid to the government or government organizations or, potentially, back to the taxpayer.

The premium tax credit (PTC) is a mechanism established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through which the United States federal government partially subsidizes the cost of private health insurance for certain lower- and middle-income individuals and families. The PTC is a refundable tax credit, and may be applied directly to the cost of insurance premiums.

In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) introduced a host of tax provisions to accommodate the Affordable Care Act.

The United States federal child tax credit (CTC) is a partially-refundable tax credit for parents with dependent children. It provides $2,000 in tax relief per qualifying child, with up to $1,400 of that refundable (subject to a refundability threshold, phase-in and phase-out). In 2021, following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, it was temporarily raised to $3,600 per child under the age of 6 and $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17; it was also made fully-refundable and half was paid out as monthly benefits. This reverted back to the previous in 2022. The CTC is scheduled to revert to a $1,000 credit after 2025.

References