The Child Tax Credit is a tax credit worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child and $500 per qualifying dependent. It is one of three kid-focused federal tax credits that are among the most effective ways to reduce your tax bill.

• 3 big tax credits for parents
• The Child Tax Credit
• The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
• The Earned Income Tax Credit

The Child Tax Credit
What it is and how much you can get

• The Child Tax Credit offers up to $2,000 per qualifying dependent child 16 or younger at the end of the calendar year.
• There is a $500 nonrefundable credit for qualifying dependents other than children.
• This is a tax credit, which means it reduces your tax bill on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Up to $1,400 of the Child Tax Credit is refundable; that is, it can reduce your tax bill to zero and you might be able to get a refund on anything left over.

How to qualify for the Child Tax Credit
You can take full advantage of the credit only if your modified adjusted gross income is under:

• $400,000 for married filing jointly
• $200,000 for everybody else.

Some of the other child-related eligibility requirements for the Child Tax Credit include:

• You must have provided at least half of the child’s support during the last year, and the child must have lived with you for at least half the year (there are some exceptions to this rule; the IRS has the details here).
• The child cannot file a joint return (or file it only to claim a refund).
• The child has to be 16 or younger by the end of the calendar year.

The Child and Dependent Care Tax CreditWhat it is and how much you can get

• The Child and Dependent Care Credit can get you 20% to 35% of up to $3,000 of child care and similar costs for a child under 13, an incapacitated spouse or parent, or another dependent so that you can work (and up to $6,000 of expenses for two or more dependents).
• The percentage of allowable expenses decreases for higher-income earners — and therefore the value of the credit also decreases — but it never disappears completely.
• This credit is not refundable, which means it can reduce your tax bill to zero but you won’t get a refund on anything left over from the credit.
• Some states also offer their own versions of this credit for child care and dependent care. They are often simply a percentage of the federal credit, but your state could expand eligibility, adjust the income thresholds or provide other incentives.

How to qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

• A dependent child must be 12 or younger at the time the child care is provided.
• Spouses and other dependents don’t have an age requirement, but IRS rules say they must have been physically or mentally incapable of self-care and must have lived with you for more than half the year.
• If you’re married, you must file as married filing jointly.
• You must have earned income — money you earned from a job. Investment or dividend income doesn’t count.
• You must provide the care provider’s name, address and Taxpayer Identification Number — either a Social Security number or an Employer Identification Number.

You can’t claim the credit for payments to care providers who are:

• Your spouse
• A parent of the dependent child
• A dependent listed on your tax return
• Your child who is age 18 or younger, even if they’re not listed as a dependent on your return

Keep in mind that qualifying expenses can go beyond physical care and extend to household expenses such as paying someone to help with cooking and cleaning.
The Earned Income Tax CreditWhat it is and how much you can getThe Earned Income Tax Credit is specifically designed to benefit working people with low incomes.

How to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit

• You have to file a tax return to get this credit, even if you don’t owe tax and are not legally obligated to file a return.
• This tax credit is refundable. So, if you’re due to receive a credit of $5,000 but you owe only $2,000 in taxes, you might get a check for $3,000.
• A number of states offer some version of an earned income tax credit for working families, so you might be able to get that credit, too.

Thanks to nerdwallet for putting together this information. To find out more: 
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/taxes/qualify-child-child-care-tax-credit/

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued proposed regulations updating the federal income tax withholding rules to reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and other legislation.
In general, the proposed regulations, available now in the Federal Register, are designed to accommodate the redesigned Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Certificate, to be used starting in 2020, and the related tables and computational procedures in Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods. The proposed regulations and related guidance do not require employees to furnish a new Form W-4 solely because of the redesign of the Form W-4.
Employees who have a Form W-4 on file with their employer from years prior to 2020 generally will continue to have their withholding determined based on that form.
To assist with computation of income tax withholding, the redesigned Form W-4 no longer uses an employee's marital status and withholding allowances, which were tied to the value of the personal exemption. Due to TCJA changes, employees can no longer claim personal exemptions. Instead, income tax withholding using the redesigned Form W-4 will generally be based on the employee's expected filing status and standard deduction for the year.
The Form W-4 is also redesigned to make it easier for employees with more than one job at the same time or married employees who file jointly with their working spouses to withhold the proper amount of tax.
In addition, employees can choose to have itemized deductions, the child tax credit, and other tax benefits reflected in their withholding for the year. As in the past, employees can choose to have an employer withhold a flat-dollar extra amount each pay period to cover, for example, income they receive from other sources that is not subject to withholding. Under the proposed regulations, employees now also have the option to request that employers withhold additional tax by reporting income from other sources not subject to withholding on the Form W-4.
The proposed regulations permit employees to use the new IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to help them accurately fill out Form W-4. As in the past, taxpayers may use the worksheets in the instructions to Form W-4 and in Publication 505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax, to assist them in filling out this form correctly.
The proposed regulations also address a variety of other income tax withholding issues. For example, the proposed regulations provide flexibility in how employees who fail to furnish Forms W-4 should be treated. Starting in 2020, employers must treat new employees who fail to furnish a properly completed Form W-4 as single and withhold using the standard deduction and no other adjustments. Before 2020, employers in this situation were required to withhold as if the employee was single and claiming zero allowances.
In addition, the proposed regulations provide rules on when employees must furnish a new Form W-4 for changed circumstances, update the regulations for the lock-in letter program, and eliminate the combined income tax and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax withholding tables.
Treasury and IRS welcome public comment on these proposed regulations. See the proposed regulations for details.
Updates on TCJA implementation can be found on the Tax Reform page of IRS.gov.

IR-2020-28, February 11, 2020