may be repayment if MAGI for 2021 is between $40,000 and $80,000 for singles, $50,000 and $100,000 for heads of households, or $60,000 and $120,000 for joint filers as long as your principal place of abode was in the U.S. for more than half the year. It depends on the “repayment protection amount,” which is $2,000 multiplied by the number of children used to figure your advance payments minus the number of children used to figure the total credit amount on your 2021 return. If the number of children is the same, then the overpayment must be repaid (i.e., there is no repayment protection amount). If there is a repayment protection amount, then there is a reduction in what must be repaid.
There's full repayment if MAGI is at least $80,000 singles, $100,000 for heads of households, or $120,000 for joint filers.
If you claim the foreign earned income exclusion to exclude income earned abroad up to the annual dollar limit ($108,700 in 2021), you cannot receive the refundable child tax credit.
For 2021 returns filed in 2022, the IRS is not permitted to issue tax refunds for the refundable child tax credit before mid‐February 2022. As a result, refunds usually aren't received until the third or fourth week in February, even for returns submitted in January 2022.
Where to Claim the Credit
On page 1 of Form 1040 or 1040‐SR, enter dependents for whom you are claiming a child tax credit or credit for other dependents, along with their Social Security numbers and relationship to you. The child tax credit—refundable and nonrefundable amounts—as well as the additional child tax credit are figured on Schedule 8812 of Form 1040 or 1040‐SR. The nonrefundable child tax credit or the credit for other dependents is entered on line 19 of the return. The refundable child tax credit or the additional child tax credit is entered on line 28 of the return.
Earned Income Credit
Low‐income taxpayers are encouraged to work and are rewarded for doing so by means of a special tax credit, called the earned income credit. The earned income credit is the second‐largest program, after Medicaid, that provides assistance to low‐income people. The amount of the credit varies with income, filing status, and the number of dependents, if any. The credit may be viewed as a “negative income tax” because it can be paid to taxpayers even if it exceeds their tax liability.
TABLE 1.3 Maximum Earned Income Credit for 2021
| Maximum Earned | |
|---|---|
| Number of Qualifying Children | Income Credit |
| No qualifying child | $ 1,502 |
| 1 qualifying child | 3,618 |
| 2 qualifying children | 5,980 |
| 3 or more qualifying children | 6,728 |
Benefit
If you are a working taxpayer with low or moderate income, you may qualify for a special tax credit of up to $6,728 in 2021. The amount of the credit depends on several factors, including your adjusted gross income, earned income, and the number of qualifying children. Table 1.3 shows the maximum credit you may claim based on the number of your qualifying children, if any.
The credit is “refundable” because it can be received in excess of the tax owed.
Conditions
To be eligible for the credit, you must have earned income from being an employee or a self‐employed individual. The amount of the credit you are entitled to claim depends on several factors.
QUALIFYING CHILDREN
You may claim the credit even if you have no qualifying child. But you are entitled to a larger credit if you have one qualifying child and a still larger credit for 2 or more qualifying children.
To be a qualifying child, the child must:
Be a qualifying child as defined earlier in the chapter under the child tax credit
Be under age 19 or under age 24 and a full‐time student or permanently and totally disabled
Live in your U.S. household for more than half the year
Qualify as your dependent if the child is married at the end of the year
Be a U.S. citizen or resident (or a nonresident who is married to a U.S. citizen and elects to have all worldwide income subject to U.S. tax)
EARNED INCOME
Earned income includes wages, salary, tips, commissions, jury duty pay, union strike benefits, certain disability pensions, U.S. military basic quarters and subsistence allowances, and net earnings from self‐employment (profit from your self‐employment activities). Military personnel can elect to treat tax‐free combat pay as earned income for purposes of the earned income credit.
TABLE 1.4 Earned Income Needed for Top Credit in 2021
| Earned Income Needed | |
|---|---|
| Number of Qualifying Children | for Top Credit |
| No qualifying child | $ 9,820 |
| 1 qualifying child | 10,640 |
| 2 or more qualifying children | 14,950 |
Nontaxable employee compensation, such as tax‐free fringe benefits or salary deferrals—for example, contributions to company 401(k) plans—is not treated as earned income.
Earned income does not include pensions and retirement plan distributions, long‐term disability and military disability pensions, welfare, and Social Security benefits (for retirement or disability).
To qualify for the maximum credit, you must have earned income at or above a set amount. Table 1.4 shows the earned income you need to obtain the top credit (depending on the number of your qualifying children, if any).
For 2021, you may use your 2019 earned income to figure the credit if it was higher than your earned income in 2021.
ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME
If your adjusted gross income is too high, the credit is reduced or eliminated. Table 1.5 shows the AGI phaseout range for the earned income credit. This depends not only on the number of qualifying children, if any, but also on your filing status, as shown in the table.
JOINT RETURN
If
