Ivanka Trump Hails Double Child Tax Credit in 2019: What Is It, How Does It Work and Who Can Claim It?

In a video posted to her Twitter account, Ivanka Trump, the president's daughter and a senior White House adviser focusing on business and women's issues, hailed the double child tax credit, a policy introduced under her father's controversial package of tax reforms worth $1.5 trillion.

"The most important investment we can make as a country is in the next generation of Americans and we're doing just that through our tax code," she said in her video.

The deadline for filing your 2018 federal income tax return is April 15 in most states.

The child tax credit is designed to help families bear the costs of raising children by reducing their overall federal income tax bill.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 2017 doubled the maximum amount of the child tax credit available and lifted the income limits so more people could claim it.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, you will need a new Social Security number for your qualifying child before the due date of your 2018 tax return.

"The required SSN is one that is valid for employment and that is issued by the Social Security Administration before the due date of your 2018 return (including extensions)," the IRS states.

Now, the maximum amount in child tax credit is $2,000 per qualifying child, double the previous amount.

There are seven criteria a child must fulfill in order to qualify, though there are exceptions for special cases detailed by the IRS:

1. The child is your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister or a descendant of any of them (for example, you grandchild, niece, or nephew).
2. The child was under age 17 at the end of 2018.
3. The child did not provide over half of his or her own support for 2018.
4. The child lived with you for more than half of 2018.
5. The child is claimed as a dependent on your return.
6. The child does not file a joint return for the year (or files it only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid).
7. The child was a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or U.S. resident alien at the end of 2018.

The income limit is now $400,000 for a joint return and $200,000 for all others, increasing access to the child tax credit for higher earners.

There is also an additional child tax credit available to low-income families who receive less than the full amount of the child tax credit because they do not earn enough.

The maximum amount of the additional child tax credit has increased to $1,400 per qualifying child, while the earned income threshold for claiming it has decreased to $2,500.

There is also a new tax credit for other dependents.

The other dependent credit is a "nonrefundable credit of up to $500 for each eligible dependent who cannot be claimed for the child tax credit," the IRS states.

For more information, consult Publication 972 of the IRS.