What is the resulting tax refund or liability for a married couple with a $100,000 AGI after applying the Child Tax Credit?

To determine the tax refund or liability for a married couple with a $100,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) after applying the Child Tax Credit, it is important to understand how the Child Tax Credit functions.

The Child Tax Credit provides a credit per qualifying child under the age of 17. For tax year 2023, the maximum credit is typically $2,000 per child, and this credit is partially refundable. This means that if the credit exceeds the taxpayer's tax liability, they may receive a refund for the unused portion of the credit.

Assuming the couple has at least one qualifying child and that the credit is fully utilized, they would benefit from a reduction in their tax liability through this credit. If their calculated tax liability before the credit was, for instance, $3,000, applying the $2,000 Child Tax Credit would reduce that liability to $1,000.

If this couple ends up having sufficient withholding or payments that exceed their final tax liability (after the credit is applied), such as if they had more than $3,000 withheld from their paychecks throughout the year, then they could indeed receive a refund. In this scenario, having a tax liability of $1,000 but having $4