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You’re doing everything right: You gathered all your tax documents, you circled on your calendar the start of the 2025 Tax Season, you bookmarked the IRS’ refund tracking tool. Now you just wait for that refund to arrive as soon as it can, right? You might need to reset your expectations.
The child tax credit allows parents to lower the amount they owe in taxes each year, depending on how many eligible children they can claim as dependents, in an effort to help manage the costs of raising a family. The effect that child tax credits can have is considerable, with a Columbia University study into the 2021 expansion of the credit finding that the payments reduced the monthly rates of child poverty by nearly 30%.
Under the current rules, the credit can both decrease the amount you might owe in taxes down to $0, and increase the amount that you might get back as a refund. However, it’s that latter possibility, known as a “refundable tax credit,” that might result in your not getting your full tax refund right away.
Read on to find out why, and for more on tax season, find out if your state offers its own child tax credit and which year-end hacks might increase your 2025 return.
How much money can I get from the child tax credit?
Under the current expansion of the federal-level credit, you can get up to $2,000 per dependent child from the child tax credit. Of that amount, you can also opt to get as much as $1,700 of it per child back as part of your refund. That is what’s known officially as an “additional child tax credit, and once you’re attempting to go in that direction, that’s when you’ll run into potential delays.
The credit’s current value was set as a temporary expansion by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and will last through the end of 2025. If Congress does not pass another expansion by then, it will revert to its value as set by permanent law: $1,000 per dependent child, all of which is refundable.
Why will I not get my refund right away if I filed early and claimed the child tax credit?
If you are expecting a tax break with the credit, the IRS is required by law to not provide your refund until the middle of February, as a check on fraud. In 2024, refunds tied to the additional child tax credit started going out Feb. 27.
That means if you finish and submit your taxes prior to that date, you’ll be waiting till then to get your complete return, not just the amount related to the credit.
If you only opt for the standard child tax credit, the non-refundable one that only lowers your tax due, you should not experience any sort of extra delay in getting your refund.
For more to prepare yourself for tax season, find out what the future might hold for home energy tax credits.
