With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to reduce the federal income tax you owe by up to $1,000 through 2010 for each qualifying child under the age of 17.

A qualifying child for this credit is someone who meets the following criteria:

1. Was under age 17 at the end of 2009
2. Relationship is your son, daughter, adopted child, stepchild or eligible foster child, sibling, or stepsibling or a descendant of any of these individuals
3. Is a U.S. citizen or resident alien
4. Support did not provide over half of his or her support and did live with you for more than half of 2009 (note that some exceptions to this criteria exist).

The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins varies depending on your filing status:

• Married Filing Jointly — $110,000
• Married Filing Separately — $55,000
• All others — $75,000

In addition, the Child Tax Credit is generally limited by the amount of the income tax you owe as well as any alternative minimum tax you owe.

If the amount of your Child Tax Credit is greater than the amount of income tax you owe, you may be able to claim some or all of the difference as an ‘additional’ Child Tax Credit. The additional Child Tax Credit may give you a refund even if you do not owe any tax. Additional Child Tax Credit is based on earned income in excess of $3,000 in 2009 and 2010. For 2009, the total amount of the Child Tax Credit and any additional Child Tax Credit cannot exceed the maximum of $1,000 for each qualifying child.

Note: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 temporarily reduced the earned income floor for the additional Child Tax Credit to $3,000 in 2009 and 2010 (from the originally proposed $12,550).

You may claim the Child Tax Credit on Form 1040 or 1040A. Details on how to compute the credit can be found in Publication 972, Child Tax Credit or call us for help.