Families Benefiting from 

Major Family and Education Tax Credits 

Tax Year 2019 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 10, 2019 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
. ,_,,_ 

; . . . 

. . .. .~ 

The first two tables show the number of families that benefit from or claim the key family and 

education tax credits for 2019 estimated 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 2019, and applies a very detailed tax calculator to analyze how changes in 

the tax system affect tax liability. The provisions examined are the earned income tax credit 

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

and ODTC respectively); the child and dependent care credit (CDCTC); the American 

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

Table 1 answers for the key family and education tax credits under current law the questions: 

“How many families benefit from the provision(s) and what is the total amount of benefit and the 

average benefit per return?” The benefits are explored individually and in combination. 

Table 2 answers for the key family and education tax credits under current law the questions: 

“How many families claim the provision(s) and what is the total amount claimed and average

claimed per return?”

For any given provision, the amount of benefit in Table 1 is calculated by comparing estimated 

tax liability to what estimated tax liability would be in absence of the provision (but with the law 

otherwise unchanged). In some cases, the number of families benefiting (or the amount of 

benefit received) is smaller than the number of claimants (or the amount claimed) for a particular 

provision. This difference occurs in cases where some families 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credit if the one under consideration were repealed.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, taxpayers would see their taxes 

increase by $1,500 and not the full $2,000 per child. The number of credits claimed and the 

amount claimed shown in Table 2 also differ from the number of families benefiting shown in 

Table 1 because the estimates in Table 1 do not include dependent filers and ignore changes in 

tax of less than $5. 

Tables 3 to 6 present greater detail for a subset of the lines in Table 1. These tables show the 

estimated benefit from the major provisions by adjusted gross income. The total benefit from all 

family and education credits is shown in Table 3. The combined benefit from the CTC, the 

ACTC, and the ODTC is shown in Table 4. The benefit from the EITC is shown in Table 5. The 

combined benefit from the AOTC and the LLTC is shown in Table 6. 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
2 

Table 1

Estimated Benefit from Key Tax Provisions affecting 

Families with Children and Education Expenses

Total Total Average

Families2 Value Benefit

(millions) ($billions) ($)

Child Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) 

and Other Dependent Credit (ODTC)

49.4 121.1 2,448

Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit 39.4 88.1 2,234

Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) 

(make ACTC nonrefundable)

22.0 38.2 1,740

Other Dependent Credit 15.4 9.7 628

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) 27.9 69.6 2,493

EITC Marriage Penalty Relief3 4.5 3.7 824

EITC Students and Disabled 

(repeal EITC for qualifying children >18)

3.3 7.3 2,211

EITC for Families with Children 20.6 67.3 3,276

EITC for Families with No Children 7.4 2.3 308

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit 5.9 3.2 551

Education Credits (AOTC and LLTC) 12.9 20.3 1,576

Lifetime Learning Credit (LLTC) 3.1 2.6 831

American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) 9.9 12.4 1,243

Refundability of AOTC4 

(make AOTC nonrefundable)

6.1 5.8 941

All Major Family and Education Credits5 64.1 215.9 3,366

 February 14, 2019

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 2018, the phaseout range of the EITC for joint filers begins at incomes $5,790 higher than for other filers 

($5,800 for joint filers without children). 

4 Even though all 9.9 million families claiming an AOTC claim the 40% of the credit that is refundable, only families 

with insufficient tax liability to offset their full credit benefit from this refundability. Families that have sufficient tax 

liability would receive their full credit even without refundability, and are therefore not included among the 6.1 

million families benefiting from refundability.

5 The tax benefits included are the seven credits listed in fn 1.

1 The tax benefits included in this table are the earned income tax credit (EITC), the child 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 (AOTC), and the lifetime learning credit (LLTC).

Tax Year 2019

Counts and Amounts of Families who benefit from ...1

Office of Tax Analysis

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
3 

Table 2

Number of Families Claiming and Amounts Claimed for Key Family Credits1 

Tax Year 2019

Number of 

Families

Amount 

Claimed

Average 

Claimed

(Millions) ($Billions) ($)

Total CTC, ACTC and ODTC 50.0 121.7 2,435

Total CTC + ACTC 39.5 110.9 2,807

CTC 30.0 72.7 2,423

ACTC 22.0 38.2 1,738

 ODTC 17.2 10.8 626

Total EITC 28.0 69.6 2,488

EITC for workers with children 20.6 67.3 3,275

EITC for workers without children 7.4 2.3 305

Total CDCTC 6.7 3.9 580

Total Education Credits 13.1 21.1 1,611

LLTC 3.3 2.8 841

Total AOTC2

9.9 18.2 1,835

AOTC nonrefundable portion 7.3 8.6 1,166

AOTC refundable portion 9.9 9.7 974

Total EITC, CTC, ACTC & ODTC, CDCTC, & Educ. Credits 64.3 216.2 3,363

Office of Tax Analysis February 14, 2018 

2As written in the statute, the AOTC is calculated in two pieces: 40% of the otherwise allowable AOTC is refundable and 

the remaining 60% is not refundable. Thus, all families claiming an AOTC receive the refundable portion of the AOTC 

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

the 9.9 million families claiming an AOTC, 6.1 million would receive a smaller credit, or none at all, if the AOTC were not 

refundable.

1

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

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

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

included. The line numbers correspond to Tables 1-7. Lines that are not numbered (but begin with a bullet) do not 

correspond to an earlier table. 

(numbers correspond to Tables 2-6)

Tax Credit 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
4 

Table 3

Estimated Benefit from All Family Credits

Earned Income Credit (EITC), Child Credit (CTC), Additional Child Credit (ACTC),

Other Dependent Credit (ODTC), Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCTC),

Lifetime Learning Credit (LLTC), and American Opportunity Credit (AOTC)

Tax Year 2019

Families Total Average

Adjusted Benefiting Benefit Benefit

Gross Income (Thousands) ($Millions) ($)

0 <= 15,000 13,650 28,068 2,056

15,000 <= 30,000 13,210 62,466 4,729

30,000 <= 40,000 6,221 24,703 3,971

40,000 <= 50,000 4,728 16,246 3,436

50,000 <= 60,000 3,661 11,195 3,058

60,000 <= 75,000 4,129 13,026 3,155

75,000 <= 100,000 5,287 17,284 3,269

100,000 <= 200,000 9,611 32,564 3,388

200,000 <= 500,000 3,330 9,931 2,982

500,000 <= 1,000,000 96 64 661

1,000,000 <= 5,000,000 22 14 641

5,000,000 < ******* 1 1 688

Total1

64,135 215,852 3,366

Office of Tax Analysis Feb 14, 2019

1

 Returns with negative income are excluded from the lowest income class but included in the total line. 

Dependent returns are excluded from the calculations. Returns with a tax change of at least $5 are included in the 

calculations. 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
5 

Table 4

Estimated Benefit from

Child Tax Credit (CTC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) 

and Other Dependent Credit (ODTC)

Tax Year 2019

Adjusted Families Total Average

Gross Benefiting Benefit Benefit

Income (Thousands) ($Millions) ($)

0 <= 15,000 4,981 5,570 1,118

15,000 <= 30,000 10,098 19,712 1,952

30,000 <= 40,000 5,254 13,051 2,484

40,000 <= 50,000 4,146 11,389 2,747

50,000 <= 60,000 3,319 9,112 2,745

60,000 <= 75,000 3,859 10,869 2,817

75,000 <= 100,000 5,066 14,424 2,847

100,000 <= 200,000 9,344 27,278 2,919

200,000 <= 500,000 3,303 9,507 2,878

500,000 <= 1,000,000 11 11 1,034

1,000,000 <= 5,000,000 0 0 0

5,000,000 < ******* 0 0 0

Total1

49,449 121,061 2,448

Office of Tax Analysis Feb 08, 2019

Run: 88543_2019 

1

 Returns with negative income are excluded from the lowest income class but included in the total line. 

Dependent returns are excluded from the calculations. Returns with a tax change of at least $5 are included in the 

calculations. 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
6 

Table 5

Estimated Benefit from

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Tax Year 2019

Families Total Average

Adjusted Gross Benefiting2 Benefit Benefit

Income (Thousands) ($Millions) ($)

0 <= 15,000 12,052 20,288 1,683

15,000 <= 30,000 9,569 38,303 4,003

30,000 <= 40,000 4,064 8,601 2,117

40,000 <= 50,000 1,850 2,166 1,171

50,000 <= 60,000 272 125 459

60,000 <= 75,000 0 0 0

75,000 <= 100,000 0 0 0

100,000 <= 200,000 0 0 0

200,000 <= 500,000 0 0 0

500,000 <= 1,000,000 0 0 0

1,000,000 <= 5,000,000 0 0 0

5,000,000 < ******* 0 0 0

Total1

27,920 69,595 2,493

Office of Tax Analysis Feb 11, 2019

Run: 88547_2019 

1

 Returns with negative income are excluded from the lowest income class but included in the total line. 

Dependent returns are excluded from the calculations. Returns with a tax change of at least $5 are included in 

the calculations. 

2 In 2019, the phaseout range of the EITC for joint filers begins at incomes $5,790 higher than for other filers 

($5,800 for joint filers without children). 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019
7 

Table 6

Estimated Benefit from

American Opportunity Credit (AOTC) and Lifetime Learning Credit (LLTC)

Tax Year 2019

Adjusted Families Total Average

Gross Benefiting Benefit Benefit

Income (Thousands) ($Millions) ($)

0 <= 15,000 2,314 2,192 947

15,000 <= 30,000 3,018 3,812 1,263

30,000 <= 40,000 1,434 2,198 1,533

40,000 <= 50,000 1,181 2,137 1,809

50,000 <= 60,000 849 1,599 1,883

60,000 <= 75,000 918 1,833 1,997

75,000 <= 100,000 1,160 2,371 2,043

100,000 <= 200,000 1,997 4,164 2,085

200,000 <= 500,000 0 0 0

500,000 <= 1,000,000 0 0 0

1,000,000 <= 5,000,000 0 0 0

5,000,000 < ******* 0 0 0

Total1

12,912 20,349 1,576

Office of Tax Analysis Feb 14, 2019

Run: 88555_2019 

1

 Returns with negative income are excluded from the lowest income class but included in the total line. 

Dependent returns are excluded from the calculations. Returns with a tax change of at least $5 are included in the 

calculations. 

U.S. Department of the Treasury 

Office of Tax Analysis 

May 2019