Purpose

The purpose of this publication is to figure the child tax

credit you claim on Form 1040, line 43, or Form 1040A,

line 28. You cannot claim the child tax credit on Form

1040EZ.

How To Use This Publication

If you were sent here from your Form 1040 or Form

1040A instructions. Go to page 2 of this publication

and complete the Child Tax Credit Worksheet.

If you have not read your Form 1040 or Form 1040A

instructions. Pick up your Form 1040 or Form 1040A

instructions and complete the following steps.

1) Go to the instructions for line 43 of Form 1040 or

line 28 of Form 1040A.

2) Answer the Questions.

3) Form 1040. If you answered “Yes” to question 1,

2, or 4, go to page 2 of this publication and complete the Child Tax Credit Worksheet.

Form 1040A. If you answered “Yes” to question 1

or 3, go to page 2 of this publication and complete

the Child Tax Credit Worksheet.

Photographs of Missing

Children

The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with

the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Photographs of missing children selected by the Center

may appear in this publication on pages that would

otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children

home by looking at the photographs and calling

1–800–THE–LOST (1–800–843–5678) if you recognize

a child.

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Publication 972

Cat. No. 26584R

Child Tax

Credit

For use in preparing

1999 Returns
Child Tax Credit Worksheet

No. STOP

Keep for Your Records

Before you begin:  Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income

1.

2.

3.

8.

7.

1

2

Number of qualifying children:  $500. Enter the result.

Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 34, or

Form 1040A, line 19.

1040 filers: Enter the total of any—

● Exclusion of income from Puerto Rico, and

● Amounts from Form 2555, lines 43 and 48;

Form 2555-EZ, line 18; and

Form 4563, line 15.

Is the amount on line 1 more than the amount on line 7?

You cannot take the child tax credit on Form 1040, line 43,

or Form 1040A, line 28. You also cannot take the additional child

tax credit on Form 1040, line 60, or Form 1040A, line 38.

Complete the rest of your Form 1040 or 1040A.

Yes. Subtract line 7 from line 1. Enter the result.

Go to Part 2 on the next page.

Multiply the amount on line 6 by 5% (.05). Enter the result.

3

8

 Form 2555-EZ, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

 Form 4563, Exclusion of Income for Bona Fide Residents of American Samoa

You will need any of the following forms that you are filing.

1040A filers: Enter -0-. 

4. Add lines 2 and 3. Enter the result. 4

5. Enter the amount shown below for your

filing status.

● Married filing jointly - $110,000

● Single, head of household, or

qualifying widow(er) - $75,000

● Married filing separately - $55,000

5



6. Is the amount on line 4 more than the amount on line 5?

Yes. Subtract line 5 from line 4.

No. Leave line 6 blank. Enter -0- on line 7.

If the result is not a multiple of $1,000,

increase it to the next multiple of $1,000

(for example, increase $425 to $1,000,

increase $1,025 to $2,000, etc.).

6

7

Part 1

Page 2
Child Tax Credit Worksheet—Continued from page 2 Keep for Your Records

9.

10.

9

10

Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 40, or Form 1040A, line 25.

Add the amounts from—

Form 1040: Form 1040A:

Enter the total.

11. Is the amount on line 1 of this worksheet $1,500 or more AND

are you claiming any of the following credits?

● Adoption credit, Form 8839

● Mortgage interest credit, Form 8396

● District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit, Form 8859

11 

12. Subtract line 11 from line 9. Enter the result.

Part 2

or

Line 41 Line 26

Line 42 Line 27

Line 44 Line 29

1040

13.

+

Is the amount on line 8 of this worksheet more than the amount on line 12?

Yes. Enter the amount from line 12.

See the TIP below.

No. Enter the amount from line 8.

This is your

child tax credit.

Enter this amount on

Form 1040, line 43, or

Form 1040A, line 28.

You may be able to take the additional child tax credit on

Form 1040, line 60, or Form 1040A, line 38, only if you answered

“Yes” on line 13 above AND the amount on line 1 is $1,500

or more.

● First, complete your Form 1040 through line 59b, or

Form 1040A through line 37b.

● Then, use Form 8812 to figure any additional child tax credit.

+

13



Yes. Complete the Line 11 Worksheet on the next page

to figure the amount to enter here.

No. Enter the amount from line 10.

12

1040A

Page 3
Line 11 Worksheet

No. STOP

Keep for Your Records

 Have your Form(s) W-2 available.

1.

2.

3.

1

2

Enter the amount from line 8 of the Child Tax Credit Worksheet on page 2.

Enter the total of the following amounts from

Form(s) W-2:

1040 filers: Enter the total of any—

● Amounts from Form 1040, lines 27 and 52, and

● Uncollected social security and Medicare or

RRTA taxes shown in box 13 of your Form(s)

W-2 with codes A, B, M, and N.

Is the amount on line 4 more than the amount on line 5?

Yes. Subtract line 5 from line 4. Enter the result.

Go to line 7 on the next page.

3

 1040 filers: Complete lines 52, 59a, 59b, and 62 of your return if they apply to you.

 1040A filers: Complete lines 37a and 37b of your return if they apply to you. If you, or your

spouse if filing jointly, had more than one employee for 1999 and total wages of over $53,700,

figure any excess social security and railroad retirement (RRTA) taxes withheld. See the

instructions for Form 1040A, line 39.

1040A filers: Enter -0-. 

4. Add lines 2 and 3. Enter the result. 4

5. 1040 filers: Enter the total of the amounts from

Form 1040, lines 59a and 62.

1040A filers: Enter the total of any— 5

6.

6

● Amount from Form 1040A, line 37a, and

● Excess social security and RRTA taxes withheld

that you entered to the left of Form 1040A, line 39.

● Social security taxes from box 4, and

● Medicare taxes from box 6.

If married filing

jointly, include

your spouse’s

amounts with

yours when

completing lines

2 and 3.





Railroad employees, see the bottom of page 5.

CAUTION

! Use this worksheet only if you answered “Yes” on line 11 of the Child Tax Credit Worksheet on page 3.



Before you begin:

Do not complete the rest of this worksheet. Instead,

go back to the Child Tax Credit Worksheet on page 3

and do the following. Enter the amount from line 10

on line 11 and complete lines 12 and 13.

Page 4
Line 11 Worksheet—Continued from page 4 Keep for Your Records

7.

7

Is the amount on line 6 of this worksheet more than the amount on line 1?

8. Enter the total of the amounts from—

● Form 8839, line 15, and

● Form 8396, line 11, and

● Form 8859, line 11.

8



9. Enter the amount from line 10 of the Child Tax Credit Worksheet on page 3.

10. Add lines 8 and 9. Enter the result.

Include the following taxes in the total on line 2 of the Line 11

Worksheet.

Tier 1 tax withheld from your pay.

This tax should be shown in box 14 of your Form(s) W-2 and

identified as “Tier 1 tax.”

If you were an employee representative, 50% of the total Tier 1 tax and

Tier 1 Medicare tax you paid for 1999.

10

9

Yes. Enter -0-. No. Subtract line 6 from line 1. Enter the result.

Next, figure the amount of any of the following credits that you are claiming.

Use the amount from line 7 above when you are asked to enter the amount

from Form 1040, line 43, or Form 1040A, line 28.

● Adoption credit, Form 8839

● Mortgage interest credit, Form 8396

● District of Columbia first-time homebuyer credit, Form 8859

Then, go to line 8.

Railroad Employees





Enter this amount on

line 11 of the Child

Tax Credit Worksheet

on page 3.

Page 5
How To Get More Information

You can order free publications and forms, ask tax

questions, and get more information from the IRS in

several ways. By selecting the method that is best for

you, you will have quick and easy access to tax help.

Free tax services. To find out what services are

available, get Publication 910, Guide to Free Tax Services. It contains a list of free tax publications and an

index of tax topics. It also describes other free tax information services, including tax education and assistance programs and a list of TeleTax topics.

Personal computer. With your personal computer and modem, you can access the IRS on

the Internet at www.irs.gov. While visiting our

web site, you can select:

• Frequently Asked Tax Questions (located under

Taxpayer Help & Ed) to find answers to questions

you may have.

• Forms & Pubs to download forms and publications

or search for forms and publications by topic or

keyword.

• Fill-in Forms (located under Forms & Pubs) to enter

information while the form is displayed and then

print the completed form.

• Tax Info For You to view Internal Revenue Bulletins

published in the last few years.

• Tax Regs in English to search regulations and the

Internal Revenue Code (under United States Code

(USC)).

• Digital Dispatch and IRS Local News Net (both located under Tax Info For Business) to receive our

electronic newsletters on hot tax issues and news.

• Small Business Corner (located under Tax Info For

Business) to get information on starting and operating a small business.

You can also reach us with your computer using File

Transfer Protocol at ftp.irs.gov.

TaxFax Service. Using the phone attached to

your fax machine, you can receive forms and

instructions by calling 703–368–9694. Follow

the directions from the prompts. When you order forms,

enter the catalog number for the form you need. The

items you request will be faxed to you.

Phone. Many services are available by phone.

• Ordering forms, instructions, and publications. Call 1–800–829–3676 to order current

and prior year forms, instructions, and publications.

• Asking tax questions. Call the IRS with your

tax questions at 1–800–829–1040.

• TTY/TDD equipment. If you have access to

TTY/TDD equipment, call 1–800–829–4059

to ask tax questions or to order forms and

publications.

• TeleTax topics. Call 1–800–829–4477 to

listen to pre-recorded messages covering

various tax topics.

Evaluating the quality of our telephone services. To ensure that IRS representatives give

accurate, courteous, and professional answers,

we evaluate the quality of our telephone services in several ways.

• A second IRS representative sometimes

monitors live telephone calls. That person

only evaluates the IRS assistor and does not

keep a record of any taxpayer's name or tax

identification number.

• We sometimes record telephone calls to

evaluate IRS assistors objectively. We hold

these recordings no longer than one week

and use them only to measure the quality

of assistance.

• We value our customers' opinions.

Throughout this year, we will be surveying

our customers for their opinions on our service.

Walk-in. You can walk in to many post offices,

libraries, and IRS offices to pick up certain

forms, instructions, and publications. Also,

some libraries and IRS offices have:

• An extensive collection of products available to print

from a CD-ROM or photocopy from reproducible

proofs.

• The Internal Revenue Code, regulations, Internal

Revenue Bulletins, and Cumulative Bulletins available for research purposes.

Mail. You can send your order for forms, instructions, and publications to the Distribution

Center nearest to you and receive a response

within 10 workdays after your request is received. Find

the address that applies to your part of the country.

• Western part of U.S.:

Western Area Distribution Center

Rancho Cordova, CA 95743–0001

• Central part of U.S.:

Central Area Distribution Center

P.O. Box 8903

Bloomington, IL 61702–8903

Page 6
• Eastern part of U.S. and foreign addresses:

Eastern Area Distribution Center

P.O. Box 85074

Richmond, VA 23261–5074

CD-ROM. You can order IRS Publication 1796,

Federal Tax Products on CD-ROM, and obtain:

• Current tax forms, instructions, and publications.

• Prior-year tax forms, instructions, and publications.

• Popular tax forms which may be filled in electronically, printed out for submission, and saved for

recordkeeping.

• Internal Revenue Bulletins.

The CD-ROM can be purchased from National

Technical Information Service (NTIS) by calling

1–877–233–6767 or on the Internet at

www.irs.gov/cdorders. The first release is available in

mid-December and the final release is available in late

January.

IRS Publication 3207, Small Business Resource

Guide, is an interactive CD-ROM that contains information important to small businesses. It is available in

mid-February. You can get one free copy by calling

1–800–829–3676. 

Page 7