Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents

To claim the child tax credit, you must have a valid SSN, which means it must be valid for employment and issued before the due date of your return (including extensions). If you are filing a joint return, only one spouse is required to have a valid SSN to be eligible for the CTC and ACTC. The other spouse must have either an SSN or ITIN, and it must have been issued on or before the due date of the return. To claim the credit for other dependents, you, and your spouse if married filing a joint return, must have either an SSN or ITIN issued on or before the due date of your 2025 return (including extensions).

See Schedule 8812 and its instructions for information on figuring and claiming any child tax credit and credit for other dependents that you may qualify to claim.

Form 8862, who must file.

You must file Form 8862 to claim the child tax credit or credit for other dependents if your child tax credit (refundable or nonrefundable depending on the tax year), additional child tax credit, or credit for other dependents for a year after 2015 was denied or reduced for any reason other than a math or clerical error. Attach a completed Form 8862 to your 2025 return to claim the credit for 2025. Don’t file Form 8862 if you filed Form 8862 for 2024, and the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, or credit for other dependents was allowed for that year. See Form 8862 and its instructions for details.

If you claim the child tax credit or credit for other dependents even though you aren’t eligible and it is determined that your error is due to reckless or intentional disregard of the rules for these credits, you won’t be allowed to take either credit or the additional child tax credit for 2 years even if you’re otherwise eligible to do so. If you claim the child tax credit or credit for other dependents even though you aren’t eligible and it is later determined that you fraudulently claimed either credit, you won’t be allowed to take either credit or the additional child tax credit for 10 years. You may also have to pay penalties.

If your qualifying child didn’t have an SSN valid for employment issued before the due date of your 2025 return (including extensions), you can’t claim the child tax credit for that child on your original or amended return. However, you may be able to claim the credit for other dependents for that child.