Child tax credit in Puerto Rico: $1,700 per child

$1,700 per child, and three are no longer required

The additional child tax credit (ACTC) is **$1,700 for each qualifying child** for tax year 2025, and it is **refundable**: they pay it to you even if you owe no federal tax. You claim it on **Form 1040-SS**, filed with the IRS even if you are not required to file a federal income tax return.

Here is the change that leaves the most money unclaimed in Puerto Rico. The Form 1040-SS instructions say it plainly: **bona fide residents of Puerto Rico are no longer required to have three or more qualifying children to be eligible to claim the ACTC. They may be eligible with one or more qualifying children.** For years the rule was three, and there are still families with one or two children who never ask because they assume they do not qualify.

The requirement that ties this to your job is the second on the IRS's list: **that Social Security and Medicare taxes were withheld from your wages**, or that you paid self-employment tax. That 6.2% and that 1.45% you see on your stub, paycheck after paycheck, are literally what opens the door to this credit.

The five requirements, as the IRS lists them

To claim the 2025 ACTC, **all** of these must be true. It is not a list of suggestions: if one fails, the claim does not go through.

On bona fide residence: generally you were one during 2025 if you met the **presence test**, did not have a tax home outside Puerto Rico, and did not have a closer connection to the United States or a foreign country than to Puerto Rico. If you were **not** a bona fide resident, your route is different: the credit is figured on Schedule 8812 and claimed on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, not on Form 1040-SS.

On the Social Security number: on a joint return only **one** spouse needs a valid SSN; the other may have an SSN or ITIN, issued on or before the return's due date, including extensions. A valid SSN is one valid for employment and issued by the Social Security Administration before that date.

• You were a **bona fide resident of Puerto Rico** during 2025.
• **Social Security and Medicare taxes were withheld** from your wages, or you paid self-employment tax.
• You **cannot** be claimed as a dependent on someone else's U.S. return.
• You had **one or more qualifying children**.
• You, or your spouse if filing jointly, have a **valid SSN** (on a joint return the other spouse may have a valid ITIN).

What actually counts as a 'qualifying child'

This is where most claims fall apart, and almost always over two details: age and the SSN. A qualifying child for the ACTC must meet **all** of the following.

The SSN rule is unforgiving and worth stating plainly: **each child you use for the ACTC must have an SSN valid for employment, issued by the Social Security Administration before the due date of your 2025 return, including extensions**. If a qualifying child does not have that SSN, you cannot use the child to claim the ACTC on the original return or on an amended one. Getting the number later does not rescue that year.

There is one humane exception worth knowing: if your qualifying child was **born and died in 2025** and you have no SSN for them, you enter 'Died' on row (c) of Part I, line 2, and include a copy of the birth certificate, death certificate or hospital records, the document must show the child was born alive.

Children 17 or older do not count for the ACTC, but do not write them off entirely: they can count toward the credit for other dependents, at $500 each, within the Part II computation.

• Is your son or daughter, stepchild, foster child placed by an authorized agency or court order, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother or half sister, **or a descendant of any of them** (grandchild, niece, nephew). An adopted child is always treated as your own.
• Was **under age 17 at the end of 2025**.
• Was **younger than you** (or your spouse, if filing jointly), or was permanently and totally disabled.
• **Did not provide over half of their own support** in 2025.
• **Lived with you for more than half of 2025.**
• **Is not filing a joint return** for 2025, unless filing only to claim a refund of estimated or withheld tax.
• Was a **U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien**.

How to file and when the money arrives

The form is the **1040-SS**, whose full name says it all: 'U.S. Self-Employment Tax Return (Including the Additional Child Tax Credit for Bona Fide Residents of Puerto Rico).' The instructions clarify that **bona fide residents of Puerto Rico can also use it to claim the ACTC even if they do not have to pay SE tax**. Meaning: even if you are a salaried employee and nothing else, this is your form.

**The date:** file by April 15, 2026 on a calendar year. There is an automatic six-month extension (to October 15, 2026) if you file Form 4868 on or before April 15. Note: an extension to file is not an extension to pay, if you owe anything.

**The refund does not come fast, and that is by law:** the IRS **cannot issue refunds before mid-February 2026 on returns claiming the ACTC**, and the delay applies to the entire refund, not just the credit portion. If someone promises you the money in January, they are selling smoke.

One computation detail that surprises people: to figure the ACTC **you must report all of your income, including Puerto Rico source income excluded from U.S. tax** because you are a bona fide resident. It is not a contradiction: that income is not taxed there, but it is used to compute the credit. Reporting it wrong is the fast lane to a denial.

Claiming it wrong is very expensive

This part is not said enough, and in Puerto Rico there are people offering to 'file the credit for you' for a cut. The IRS instructions set penalties that go well beyond paying the money back.

If you claim the ACTC improperly and it is later determined the error was due to **reckless or intentional disregard of the rules**, you cannot claim the child tax credit, the credit for other dependents, or the ACTC **for 2 years**, even if otherwise eligible. If the error is determined to be due to **fraud**, the bar is **10 years**, and penalties may apply on top.

And if in any year after 2015 your credit was denied or reduced for a reason other than a math or clerical error, you must **attach Form 8862** to claim it again, unless an exception applies.

The practical read: go through the requirements yourself before signing anything, and be wary of anyone who guarantees you a credit without asking your children's ages, their SSNs, or who they lived with. The signature on the return is yours; so is the ten-year bar.

What to do today if you think you qualify

Four concrete steps, in order, none of which costs money.

If you did not claim last year because you believed three children were required, that belief was once true and is not anymore. It is worth sitting down with the form instructions or a trusted preparer to look at the years still open: in general, an amended return must be filed within 3 years of filing the original or within 2 years of paying the tax, whichever is later.

• Pull out your **pay stub or W-2PR** and confirm Social Security and Medicare were withheld. That is the requirement that connects you to the credit.
• Verify that **each child has an SSN valid for employment**, issued before the return's due date. If one is missing, that is the first errand, and the clock is running.
• Confirm **age as of December 31**: under 17 for the ACTC. Those 17 or older may come in through the other-dependents route, at $500.
• Gather evidence of **who each child lived with for more than half the year**. It is the most-questioned requirement and the easiest to document in advance.