During tax season, do you spend hours or even days wrestling with old receipts, canceled checks, W-2 forms, 1099s, and statements from your banks, credit card companies, and mortgage company, trying to document every possible deduction and lower your federal income tax bill?
Complying with tax filing requirements – and trying to squeeze every possible deduction out of an increasingly complex tax code – is a big undertaking. The IRS offers free tax help 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with tools for electronically filing returns, calculating withholding, and checking on estimated tax payments. Yet despite help from tax pros, DIY software, and the IRS, many taxpayers with children still worry they’re leaving money on the table.
The 2025 tax law changed several of these breaks, and more of those changes take effect in 2026. Here’s a look at the deductions and credits you might be eligible to claim, with the figures that govern a 2026 return.
The Lifetime Financial Cost of Having a Child
Raising a family is expensive. Some expenses are apparent, such as food, clothing, child care, medical bills, health insurance, and education. Others are more difficult to quantify, such as the possible loss of income when a parent stays home to care for a child and the additional living space, utilities, and larger vehicles needed for bigger families.
You might not be keeping a running tally of how much it costs to raise your child, but someone is. LendingTree put the cost of raising a child from birth through age 18 at $303,418 in an April 2026 analysis, up 1.9% in a year on rising rent and clothing costs. That works out to roughly $16,900 a year, and it stops before any college bill arrives. The USDA’s Expenditures on Children by Families report has not been updated since it covered 2015.
While the expenses vary considerably based on household income level, it’s safe to assume that every parent is interested in taking advantage of every opportunity to recover their tax dollars. To that end, here’s a look at the tax deductions and credits that might relate to your family’s situation.
Child-Related Deductions & Credits
After you’ve collected, sorted, and totaled your income and expense information, you or your tax advisor can begin to complete the tax forms you must submit to the IRS. The information on those completed forms determines whether you will need to send a check for additional taxes due, get a refund of the taxes you’ve paid throughout the year, or break even.
Pay particular attention to the following deductions and credits that can minimize your tax bill.
1. Standard or Itemized Deductions
When you file your return, you have the option of taking either the standard deduction or itemizing deductions, whichever results in a lower tax bill.
The standard deduction is a set amount based on your filing status. For 2026 returns, the standard deduction is as follows:
| Filing Status | Standard Deduction Amount |
| Single | $16,100 |
| Married Filing Jointly & Surviving Spouse | $32,200 |
| Married Filing Separately | $16,100 |
| Head of Household | $24,150 |
The IRS also provides an additional standard deduction of $1,650 per qualifying spouse for married people who are age 65 or older or blind. For unmarried taxpayers who are age 65 or older or blind, the additional standard deduction is $2,050.
Itemized deductions include home mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable contributions. The charitable rules tightened for 2026. Itemizers can now deduct only what exceeds 0.5% of AGI, and filers in the top 37% bracket have the benefit valued at 35% rather than their full marginal rate.
Itemized deductions also include out-of-pocket costs paid for medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For taxpayers in relatively good health who have access to employer-subsidized health insurance, that can be a difficult threshold to meet. However, parents of children with special needs such as autism, cerebral palsy, and ADHD may have more expenses that fit into this category.
If you’re one of these parents, consider how much you pay for such items as:
- Special schooling, training, or therapy, including exercise programs recommended by qualified medical personnel
- Aides required for the child to benefit from regular or special education
- Diagnostic evaluations
- Some home improvements
- Special medical diets
When you add these costs to your other medical expenses – such as insurance premiums, copays, and prescription costs – they might exceed the 7.5% of AGI threshold and make itemizing beneficial.
To itemize deductions, track the amount you spend in these categories during the year and deduct them on Schedule A attached to your Form 1040. If your total itemized deductions exceed the available standard deduction for your filing status, you should opt to itemize your deductions.
2. Deduction for Student Loan Interest
The Student Loan Interest deduction is available even if you use the standard deduction rather than itemize deductions on your return. It allows you to deduct up to $2,500 of interest on qualified student loans that you were legally obligated to repay on behalf of yourself, your spouse, or your dependents.
The deduction is limited for higher-income taxpayers. For 2026, the deduction is gradually phased out if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is between $85,000 and $100,000 for single filers (or $175,000 and $205,000 for married couples filing jointly). If your MAGI is greater than the upper limit for your filing status, you cannot claim this deduction.
3. Tax Credits for Education
The tax code provides a number of education-related tax credits. Two of them help parents who fund a dependent child’s college education. A third arrives in 2027 and works on K-12 instead. Tax credits are more valuable than tax deductions as they’re a dollar-for-dollar reduction of any income taxes you may owe. Some tax credits are even refundable, meaning you can receive a refund if the credit is greater than the amount of tax you owe for the year.
American Opportunity Tax Credit
The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) is worth up to $2,500 per student, per year. It’s a partially refundable credit, so if it brings the amount of tax you owe to zero, you can have up to $1,000 refunded to you.
To qualify, the student must be in their first four years of post-secondary education and be enrolled at least half-time. There is no limit on the number of children who can qualify in a given year.
There are also income limits for claiming the AOTC. To claim the full credit, your MAGI must be $80,000 or less ($160,000 if married filing jointly). The credit is phased out for taxpayers with MAGIs between $80,000 and $90,000 ($160,000 to $180,000 for married filing jointly), with no credit available for people with MAGIs greater than those upper limits. These thresholds are set in statute and have not moved with inflation. Married couples who file separately can’t claim it.
Lifetime Learning Credit
The Lifetime Learning Credit is worth up to $2,000 per return, and you can claim it for an unlimited number of years, as long as you paid for tuition, fees, and required books and supplies at a qualified educational institution.
The student does not have to be working toward a degree program or be enrolled at least half-time.
The credit starts to phase out if your MAGI is between $80,000 and $90,000 ($160,000 and $180,000 for married couples filing jointly). Beyond these upper limits, no credit is available. The Lifetime Learning Credit is not available to married couples who file separate returns.
4. Other Tax Credits for Children
Other tax credits benefit parents directly over the years of a child’s dependency.
Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit is available for each dependent child under the age of 17 who lives with you for more than half the year. The credit is worth up to $2,200 per child, per year, and up to $1,700 per child can be refundable. The 2025 tax law made the higher amount permanent and indexed it to inflation, rounded to the nearest $100.
Claiming it now requires a valid Social Security number for the child and for at least one spouse on a joint return. The credit starts to phase out if your MAGI is greater than $200,000 ($400,000 if married filing jointly). You can read more about claiming it in the Schedule 8812 instructions, which replaced the retired Publication 972.
Credit for Other Dependents
A dependent who doesn’t qualify for the Child Tax Credit can still be worth $500. The Credit for Other Dependents covers a child who has turned 17, a dependent in college, a disabled adult child, and a dependent parent or other relative you support. The 2025 tax law made it permanent.
It is nonrefundable, so it reduces the tax you owe and stops at zero. It shares the Child Tax Credit’s phase-out, starting at $200,000 of MAGI ($400,000 if married filing jointly) and disappearing entirely at $210,000 ($410,000 joint).
Adoption Credit
The Adoption Credit is worth up to a maximum of $17,670 per child on qualified adoption expenses paid to adopt an eligible child in 2026. Qualified adoption expenses include:
- Reasonable and necessary adoption fees
- Court costs and attorney fees
- Traveling expenses (including amounts spent on meals and lodging while away from home)
- Other expenses directly related to adopting an eligible child
The credit is not available if you paid these expenses to adopt your spouse’s child.
The credit used to be entirely nonrefundable. Part of it is refundable now, up to $5,120 for 2026, which matters if your tax bill is small. Anything above the refundable portion still reduces tax you owe rather than generating a refund, and unused credit carries forward for up to five years. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with MAGIs between $265,080 and $305,080.
Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit
Parents who pay for child care so that they can work can claim the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which is worth 20% to 50% of day care expenses, up to $3,000 for one child or $6,000 for two or more children. The top rate rose from 35% to 50% for 2026, though it starts stepping down once AGI passes $15,000 and settles at 20% for higher earners.
To qualify, the child must be under age 13, or any age and physically or mentally unable to care for themselves.
You can learn more about the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit in IRS Publication 503.
Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit provides a refundable credit for filers who meet a certain income threshold according to their filing status and the number of qualifying children they have.
For 2026, here is the maximum credit and the income at which it disappears entirely:
| Qualifying Children | Maximum Credit | Income Limit, Single or Head of Household | Income Limit, Married Filing Jointly |
| None | $664 | $19,540 | $26,820 |
| One | $4,427 | $51,593 | $58,863 |
| Two | $7,316 | $58,629 | $65,899 |
| Three or more | $8,231 | $62,974 | $70,224 |
Tax Planning
Once you’ve filed your tax return for the year, it’s time to start planning for next year’s return. Tax planning can reduce the total amount of tax you’ll owe through the thoughtful use of deductions, tax credits, and shifting income from high-tax years to lower-tax years.
Here are a few methods you might consider.
Flexible Spending Accounts
If you have access to a flexible spending account (FSA) through your employer, you can use pre-tax dollars to pay for health care or child care expenses.
For 2026, you can contribute up to $3,400 to a health care FSA. Amounts contributed are not subject to federal income tax, Social Security tax, or Medicare tax. The money can also be withdrawn tax-free as long as you use it to pay for qualified medical expenses not covered by your health insurance plan. That includes copays, deductibles, dental services, eyeglasses, and hearing aids.
A dependent care FSA can be used to pay for day care, preschool, summer day camps, and before- and after-school programs. The 2025 tax law raised this limit for the first time since 1986. You can contribute up to $7,500 per year ($3,750 if married filing separately), up from $5,000. The money you contribute is not subject to federal income tax or payroll taxes and can be withdrawn tax-free as long as you use it to pay for qualified dependent care expenses. Neither figure is indexed for inflation, so expect it to sit at $7,500 for a while.
Trump Accounts
Trump Accounts opened on July 4, 2026. A child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, qualifies for a one-time $1,000 federal contribution. Register at trumpaccounts.gov to claim it, or file Form 4547 with a 2025 return that is still open.
Families can add up to $5,000 a year on top of that, with inflation indexing starting after 2027, and an employer can contribute up to $2,500 of that total on a pre-tax basis. Contributions are made with after-tax dollars and the money grows tax-deferred. Withdrawals cannot start until the beneficiary turns 18, and they are taxed as ordinary income, with the usual 10% early-withdrawal penalty before age 59½ unless an exception applies.
ABLE Accounts
The Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act allows parents to set aside money for the use of a person with disabilities. The annual limit tracks the gift tax exclusion, which is $19,000 for 2026. While contributions to an ABLE account are not tax-deductible on your federal tax return, the savings and investments are allowed to grow tax-free and be withdrawn tax-free, as long as the account holders spend the proceeds on qualified disability-related expenses. Some states do allow you to take a state income tax deduction for ABLE account contributions.
Eligibility widened considerably on January 1, 2026. The disability previously had to have begun before age 26. That age is now 46.
529 Plan
A Qualified Tuition Plan, often called a 529 Plan after Section 529 of the tax code that authorizes it, allows parents to save money to pay for qualified education expenses.
States, educational institutions, and some financial institutions operate most 529 plans. While you don’t receive any federal tax breaks for contributions to a 529 plan, earnings within the account and withdrawals from the account are not subject to federal income taxes as long as you use the funds for qualified education expenses, such as tuition, fees, books, computer equipment, internet access, and room and board. Many states offer tax breaks for contributions to their state-operated plans.
The K-12 side of a 529 got much bigger in 2026. The annual amount you can withdraw tax-free for elementary or secondary school doubled from $10,000 to $20,000 per student, effective January 1. Qualified K-12 expenses also expanded beyond tuition to cover tutoring, curriculum materials, online learning platforms, educational therapies for students with disabilities, standardized test fees, and dual-enrollment tuition.
Final Word
Navigating the U.S. tax code can be tedious and frustrating, but with all of the tax deductions and credits available to parents, it’s worth taking the time to research available tax breaks that can increase your tax refund or minimize the amount of tax you’ll owe. Several of the numbers above changed for 2026 and one more arrives in 2027, so a break you skipped last year is worth a second look.
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