2021 Instructions for Schedule 8812: Credits for
Qualifying Children and Other Dependents
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit for tax year
2021, increasing credit amounts and modifying eligibility rules that directly affected Schedule
8812 calculations. Taxpayers who received Advance Child Tax Credit payments during 2021 must use Schedule 8812 to reconcile those payments and determine whether additional tax is owed.
Understanding Schedule 8812 for Tax Year 2021
Schedule 8812 serves as the primary form for calculating child tax credits, reporting advance payments, and figuring any repayment obligations for the 2021 tax year. The form replaced
Publication 972 as the single source for all child tax credit calculations and now includes worksheets previously published separately.
You must use Schedule 8812 if you are claiming the refundable child tax credit, nonrefundable child tax credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, or Credit for Other Dependents. Child and dependent care costs are not included in the schedule's calculation of credits; only eligible children and other dependents are.
Eligibility Requirements for Qualifying Children
Your qualifying child must meet specific age, relationship, residency, and citizenship requirements as detailed in the Instructions for Form 1040. For 2021, children must be under age 18 as of December 31, 2021, to qualify for the Child Tax Credit under the American Rescue
Plan expansion.
The enhanced credit provides $3,600 for each qualifying child under age 6 and $3,000 for each qualifying child ages 6 through 17. Children who turned 18 on or before December 31, 2021, do not qualify for the Child Tax Credit but may qualify for the Credit for Other Dependents.
Social Security Number Requirements
Each qualifying child must have a valid Social Security number issued before the due date of your 2021 tax return, including extensions. Any missing, incorrect, or duplicate Social Security number will prevent you from claiming the credit for that child.
Special documentation applies if your qualifying child was born and died in 2021 and you do not
have a Social Security number
- Attach a copy of the child’s birth certificate that clearly shows the child was born alive to
substantiate eligibility when a Social Security number is not available.
- Submit the child’s death certificate as an acceptable alternative documentation to verify
the child’s birth and death during the 2021 tax year.
- Provide hospital records that confirm the child was born alive if neither a birth certificate
nor a death certificate is available.
Income Thresholds and Phase-Out Rules
Modified adjusted gross income determines your eligibility for the full enhanced credit amount under the 2021 rules. The credit begins to phase out when your income exceeds specific thresholds based on your filing status.
Phase-out thresholds for the enhanced portion of the credit include
- For taxpayers who are married filing jointly or are qualifying surviving spouses, the
enhanced Child Tax Credit begins to phase out when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $150,000.
- For taxpayers filing as head of household, the phase-out of the enhanced portion of the
Child Tax Credit starts when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $112,500.
- For taxpayers using any other filing status, the enhanced Child Tax Credit begins to
phase out once modified adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000.
Schedule 8812 includes worksheets to calculate the phase-out reduction and determine your final credit amount based on your filing status and income level. Complete the Line 5 Worksheet in the instructions to figure the initial credit amount before applying phase-out calculations.
Required Forms and Documentation
Gather Form W-2 showing wages and withholding for all household members who worked during 2021. Collect Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC reporting self-employment income if applicable to your household.
You must have Letter 6419 from the IRS, which reports the total amount of advance child tax credit payments you received during 2021. The letter also shows the number of qualifying children the IRS used to calculate those advance payments.
Check the appropriate box in column 4 of the Dependents section on Form 1040 or Form
1040-SR to indicate whether you are claiming the Child Tax Credit or the Credit for Other
Dependents. For a single dependent, you cannot check both boxes.
Advance Child Tax Credit Reconciliation
The IRS issued advance payments of 50% of the estimated 2021 child tax credit from July through December 2021 based on information from your 2019 or 2020 tax return. Changes in filing status, income, or the number of qualifying children during 2021 may result in receiving more or less than your actual credit entitlement.
Married Filing Jointly Reporting
If you are married filing jointly for 2021, you must add the amounts reported in Box 1 of both your Letter 6419 and your spouse’s Letter 6419. Enter the total aggregate amount on the appropriate line of Schedule 8812 to avoid processing delays.
Verify that the amount you enter for advance payments matches the total reported on your
Letter 6419 or the combined total from both spouses’ letters. Mismatched amounts will delay the processing of your tax return and any refund you may be entitled to receive.
Additional Tax on Excess Advance Payments
Part III of Schedule 8812 calculates any additional tax you owe if you received excess advance payments during 2021. Repayment protection may apply if your adjusted gross income falls below certain thresholds on your 2021 return.
Repayment protection thresholds include
- For taxpayers who are married filing jointly or are qualifying surviving spouses,
repayment protection for excess advance child tax credit payments applies if adjusted gross income does not exceed $120,000.
- For taxpayers filing as head of household, repayment protection applies if adjusted gross
income does not exceed $100,000 for the 2021 tax year.
- For taxpayers using any other filing status, repayment protection applies when adjusted
gross income is $80,000 or less.
Complete Part III carefully to determine whether you must repay some or all of the excess advance payments or whether you qualify for protection from repayment. Schedule 8812 calculates the repayment amount automatically if you fall above the protection thresholds.
Completing the Additional Child Tax Credit Calculation
Parts II-A through II-C calculate the Additional Child Tax Credit, which is the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit available to certain taxpayers. You must complete these parts only if you did not check Box A or Box B on line 13 of Schedule 8812.
Additional requirements for completing Parts II-A through II-C include
- To meet the eligibility requirements, you must not be filing Form 2555 to claim the foreign
earned income exclusion.
- You must have at least one qualifying child listed on line 4a of Schedule 8812 to proceed
with the calculation.
- The credit amount shown on line 12 must exceed the amount reported on line 15a to
qualify for this portion of the credit calculation.
The Additional Child Tax Credit uses your earned income to calculate the refundable amount, with specific worksheets provided in the instructions for taxpayers who use optional methods.
Refer to the Earned Income Worksheet if you have net earnings from self-employment and use either optional method to figure those earnings.
Residency Requirements and Special Rules
Check Box A on line 13 if you or your spouse had a principal place of abode in the United
States for more than one-half of 2021. Your main home must have been in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia for more than half the year to meet this requirement.
Check Box B if you or your spouse were a bona fide resident of Puerto Rico during 2021 under the presence test and tax home requirements. Taxpayers who check either box qualify for the refundable child tax credit and need only complete Parts I-A, I-B, and Part III if applicable.
Nonresident Alien Eligibility
Nonresident aliens who file Form 1040-NR may be eligible to claim the nonrefundable child tax credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, and Credit for Other Dependents. These taxpayers do not need to meet the residency requirements in Box A or Box B to claim these credits on Schedule
8812.
Filers who do not check a box on line 13 complete Part I-A, Part I-C, Parts II-A through II-C if applicable, and Part III if applicable. Military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to have a main home in the United States for purposes of claiming the Child Tax Credit.
Avoiding Processing Delays and Credit Denial
The IRS cannot issue refunds before mid-February 2022 for returns that properly claim the
Additional Child Tax Credit on Schedule 8812. This delayed refund timeline applies to your entire refund, not just the portion associated with the Additional Child Tax Credit or related credits.
If your Child Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, or Credit for Other Dependents was denied or reduced in any year after 2015 for reasons other than math or clerical errors, you must attach
Form 8862 to your 2021 tax return. Exceptions may apply as detailed in the Form 8862 instructions, so review those requirements before preparing your return.
Attach Schedule 8812 to Form 1040, Form 1040-SR, or Form 1040-NR when filing your return with all other required schedules. Schedule 8812 does not require a separate signature and should be included with attachments in the order specified in the Form 1040 instructions.
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