Benefits to Families and Individuals from the 

 Major Family and Education Tax Provisions under Current Law1

Summary for Taxable Year 2023 

Office of Tax Analysis 

April 25, 2022 

Deena Ackerman 

Michael Cooper 

1

 This document presents a subset of the usual set of counts and amounts produced annually. Since these are so 

similar to last year’s presentation for taxable year 2022, we provide solely the summary tables. 
The Federal income tax system supports families and individuals by reducing their tax liabilities, 

and thus increasing their after-tax incomes, in several different ways. Principally, this support 

takes the form of certain deductions and credits available only to taxpayers with children or other 

dependents, but some benefits are available to all taxpayers. This document presents two 

summary tables that describe the income tax benefits to families and individuals from key 

provisions under current law for taxable year 2023 as a function of adjusted gross income 

(AGI).2 

The provisions examined are head of household filing status (HoH); the earned income tax credit 

(EITC); the child tax credit, the additional child tax credit, and the other dependent tax credit 

(CTC, ACTC, and ODTC respectively); the child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC); the 

American opportunity tax credit (AOTC); the lifetime learning tax credit (LLTC) and the 

deduction for student loan interest (SLID). The tables show the number of tax units3 expected to 

benefit from or claim these benefits using Treasury’s Individual Tax Model (ITM). The ITM 

takes a stratified random sample of tax returns from a base year, forecasts the values of line items 

on the tax returns for 2023, and applies a very detailed tax calculator to analyze how changes in 

the tax system affect tax liability. 

Summary Table A answers the questions for the key family and education tax benefits under 

current law: “How many tax units benefit from the provision(s), what is the total amount of 

benefit and what is the average benefit per return?” The benefits are explored individually and in 

combination. Summary Table B answers the questions for the key family and education tax 

benefits under current law: “How many tax units claim the provision(s) and what is the total 

amount claimed and average amount claimed per return?” 

For any given provision shown in Summary Table A, the amount of benefit is calculated by 

comparing estimated tax liability to what estimated tax liability would be in the absence of the 

provision (but with the law and proposed law otherwise unchanged). In some cases, the number 

of tax units benefiting (or the amount of benefit received) is smaller than the number of tax units 

claiming (or the amount claimed). This difference occurs in cases where some would have 

chosen an alternate credit if the one under consideration were repealed. For example, in absence 

of the CTC, nearly all current claimants would switch to the ODTC. At most, these taxpayers 

would see their taxes increase by $1,500 and not the full $2,000 per child. The estimated claims 

are shown in Summary Table B. The amounts in Summary Table B also differ from the amounts 

shown in Summary Table A because the estimates in Summary Table A ignore changes in tax of 

less than $5. 

An appendix provides a brief summary of the provisions under current law for taxable year 2023. 

2

 Current law for taxable year 2023 is nearly unchanged from 2022. Readers are referred to the General Explanation 

of the Administration’s Budget Proposals for FY 2023 (Greenbook) for complete descriptions of current law for 

taxable year 2022: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2023.pdf. 

3

 A tax unit consists of the individuals on a given tax return. In some cases, membership will be identical to the 

household or family, but in other cases (e.g. a multigenerational household) membership will differ. 
Current Law 

2 

Summary Table A

Tax Support for Families from Main Family-Related Tax Provisions 

under Current Law

Taxable Year 2023

Counts and Amounts of Tax Units Benefitting from ...1

Total Total Average

Tax Units2 Value Benefit 

(millions) ($billions) ($) 

1 Head of Household Filing Status 15.3 18.9 1,237

2 Child Credit (CTC) and Additional Child Tax Credit 

(ACTC) 

47.4 117.0 2,467

and Other Dependent Credit (ODC) 

2A Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit 37.2 85.3 2,294

2B Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) 19.6 37.0 1,885

(make ACTC nonrefundable) 

2C Other Dependent Credit 15.6 10.0 641

3 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) 27.2 73.7 2,707

3A EITC Marriage Penalty Relief3 3.8 3.6 938

3B EITC Students and Disabled 3.2 7.4 2,288

(repeal EITC for qualifying children >18) 

3C EITC for Families with Children 19.5 71.1 3,654

3D EITC for Families with No Children 7.8 2.6 336

4 Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit 5.8 3.3 573

5 Education Credits (AOTC and LLTC) 12.8 17.6 1,369

5A Lifetime Learning Credit (LLTC) 4.1 3.2 771

5B American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) 8.9 9.3 1,036

5C Refundability of AOTC4 5.0 4.3 848

(make AOTC nonrefundable) 

6 All Major Family and Education Credits5 63.5 212.6 3,350
Current Law 

3 

1 The tax benefits included in this table are the head of household filing status, the earned income tax credit 

(EITC), the child tax credit (CTC), the additional child tax credit (ACTC), the child and dependent care tax credit 

(CDCTC), the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC), the lifetime learning tax credit (LLTC) and the other 

dependent tax credit (ODTC). 

2 Dependent returns are excluded from the calculations. Returns are considered to benefit from a provision (or set 

of provisions) if income tax liability increases by $5 or more if the provision is (or provisions are) repealed. 

3 In 2023, the phaseout range of the EITC for joint filers begins at incomes $6,470 higher than for other filers. 

4 Even though all 8.9 million tax units claiming an AOTC claim the 40 percent of the credit that is refundable, only 

those with insufficient tax liability to offset their full credit benefit from this refundability. Tax units with sufficient tax 

liability would receive their full credit even without refundability; they are therefore not included among the 5.0 

million units benefiting from refundability. 

5. The credits included in line 6 are the seven credits described in footnote 1.

 
Current Law 

4 

Summary Table B

Number of Tax Units Claiming and Amounts Claimed for Key Family Credits1 

Under Current Law

Taxable Year 2023

Tax Credit 

Number of 

Tax Units

Amount 

Claimed

Average 

Claimed

(numbers correspond to Tables 2-6) (Millions) ($Billions) ($) 

2. Total CTC, ACTC and ODTC 47.7 117.3 2,460

 2A. Total CTC + ACTC 37.2 106.6 2,863

 - CTC 28.0 69.7 2,491

 2B. ACTC 19.6 36.9 1,877

 2C. ODTC 16.7 10.7 642

3. Total EITC 27.3 73.7 2,704

 3C. EITC for workers with children 19.5 71.1 3,653

 3D. EITC for workers without children 7.8 2.6 335

4. Total CDCTC 6.3 3.7 591

5. Total Education Credits2 13.1 18.1 1,383

 5A. LLTC 4.4 3.3 763

 5B. Total AOTC 9.0 14.7 1,644

 - AOTC nonrefundable portion 6.3 7.0 1,101

 5C. AOTC refundable portion3 9.0 7.0 778

6. Total EITC, CTC, ACTC & ODTC, CDCTC, & Educ. 63.6 212.8 3,346

Credits 

 Office of Tax Analysis April 7, 2022 

 

1 The tax benefits included in this table are the earned income tax credit (EITC), the child tax credit (CTC), the additional 

child tax credit (ACTC), the other dependent tax credit (ODTC), the child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC), the 

American opportunity tax credit (ACTC) and the lifetime learning tax credit (LLTC). Head of Household filing status is not 

included. The line numbers correspond as closely as possible to Tables 2-6. Lines that are not numbered (but begin with 

a dash) do not correspond to an earlier table. 

2 The Omnibus Appropriations and Covid-19 Relief Act passed in December of 2020 expanded the phaseout of the LLTC 

to the higher AOTC levels. 

3 As written in the statute, the AOTC is calculated in two pieces: 40 percent of the otherwise allowable AOTC is 

refundable and the remaining 60 percent is not refundable. Thus, all tax units claiming an AOTC receive the refundable 

portion of the AOTC but only those with tax liability to offset are able to claim all or part of the nonrefundable portion of 

the AOTC. Of the 9 million tax units claiming an AOTC, 5.0 million would receive a smaller credit, or none at all, if the 

AOTC were not refundable. 

 
Current Law 

5 

Appendix 

Brief Description of the Main Tax Provisions for Families for Taxable Year 2023 under 

Current Law 

Taxpayers with dependent children pay lower taxes than similar families without children 

through the following major tax provisions of the individual income tax. These provisions are 

described below. A more complete description of the provisions under current law is available in 

the General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2023 Revenue Proposals (the 

Greenbook).4 With the exception of indexation for inflation of the EITC and the standard 

deduction, the provisions are the same in 2022 as in 2023.5

 Filing status – Unmarried taxpayers who are supporting a dependent child may be eligible to 

file as a head of household, instead of as a single filer. Head of household status has a higher 

standard deduction, and income is taxed under a separate rate bracket structure that is more 

generous than the brackets available to single filers. 

o For taxable year 2023, the estimated standard deduction for single filers is $13,650. 

The standard deduction for joint filers is $27,300 and the standard deduction for head 

of household filers is $20,500. 

 Child credit (CTC) – Taxpayers may be eligible for a partially refundable child credit of 

$2,000 for each child through age 16 with a valid social security number. Taxpayers with 

insufficient tax liability to claim the entire CTC may be able to claim up to $1,400 per child 

of unclaimed credit as an additional child credit (ACTC). The ACTC is calculated as the 

lesser of any unclaimed credit and fifteen percent of any earnings in excess of $2,500, up to 

$1,400 per child. The CTC (combined with the amount of other dependent credit, described 

below) phases out beginning at $200,000 of modified adjusted gross income (AGI) and 

$400,000 for married couples filing a joint return. 

 Other dependent credit (ODTC) – Taxpayers may be eligible for a non-refundable other 

dependent credit of up to $500 for each qualifying dependent relative or child who is not 

eligible for the child credit. The ODTC (combined with the amount of CTC [see above]) 

phases out beginning at $200,000 of modified AGI ($400,000 for married couples filing a 

joint return). 

 Earned income tax credit (EITC) – Taxpayers with earned income may be eligible for a 

refundable EITC. The amount of EITC a taxpayer may receive initially increases as the 

taxpayer earns more income, then remains constant over a range of earned income, and then 

decreases as earned income (or modified adjusted gross income, if greater) increases further. 

The credit begins to phase out at a higher income level for married taxpayers and is more 

generous for families with more children (up to three children). 

o Taking as an example the one-child schedule for a single parent with estimated 

parameters for 2023, the credit phases in with earnings at a rate of 34 percent, until 

the maximum credit of $3,937 at $11,580. The credit begins phasing out with 

4

 The Greenbook is available here: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanations-FY2023.pdf 

5

 The indexation of the rate brackets will interact with all provisions, regardless of whether the provision is indexed. 
Current Law 

6 

modified AGI (or earnings if greater) in excess of $21,240 at a rate of 15.98 percent, 

phasing out completely at $45,878.6 

o Under current law for taxpayers with no qualifying children (including those living 

with children they do not claim), for taxable year 2023 the phase-in and phaseout rate 

is 7.65 percent, and the maximum credit is estimated to be $591. The credit is fully 

phased in at earnings of $7,720 and begins phasing out at the greater of earnings or 

modified AGI at $9,660. 

o The EITC for married taxpayers who file a joint return will begin to phase out at 

incomes is $6,470 higher than for other filers. 

 Child and dependent care credit (CDCTC) – Taxpayers with expenses for caring for a 

qualifying individual, who may be a child or an adult, may be eligible for a non-refundable 

CDCTC. The credit is generally available for working taxpayers with dependent children 

under age 13, but it is also available for working taxpayers supporting parents or other 

dependents needing care. The maximum credit rate is 35 percent of up to $3,000 of childcare 

expenses for 1 child and $6,000 for 2 or more children. The credit rate phases down 

beginning at incomes of $15,000 until the rate reaches 20 percent at incomes above $43,000.7

 American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) and lifetime learning credit (LLTC) – Taxpayers 

with expenses related to their or their dependent children’s post-secondary education may be 

eligible for the partially refundable AOTC of up to $2,500, with up to $1,000 of the credit 

being refundable. The credit phases out beginning at $80,000 of modified AGI ($160,000 for 

joint filers) and is available for 4 years. Students must attend at least half time to be eligible 

for this credit. Taxpayers may also be eligible for a nonrefundable LLTC for 20 percent of up 

to $10,000 per return of expenses required for enrollment per return. The phaseout range is 

the same as for the AOTC8 and there is no limit on the number of years the credit may be 

claimed or on the intensity of study. The expenses of any one student may be applied to only 

one credit. 

6

 Parameters shown are Treasury estimates for taxable year 2023. The end of the phase-in range and the end of the 

plateau are indexed for inflation. 

7

 Taxpayers whose employers offer the benefit may also exclude from income for income and payroll tax purposes 

amounts contributed to a dependent care flexible spending program, up to certain limits. This exclusion is not 

modeled. 

8

 The phaseout range for the LLTC was increased to match the phaseout range of the AOTC beginning in taxable 

year 2021 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020.