Single parent, one child, Child Tax Credit
A single parent filing as Head of Household with one young child. One W-2, the standard deduction, and the Child Tax Credit.
Taxpayer facts
Who this is and what their year looked like.
Tanya is unmarried and raising her 8-year-old son, Marcus, on her own in Houston. She pays all the household costs, and Marcus lived with her all year.
She has one W-2 and no other income, and she takes the standard deduction.
- NameTanya R. Brooks
- Date of birth09/03/1990
- SSN452-19-6634
- Age (as of 12/31/2025)35
- OccupationMedical assistant
- Filing statusHead of Household
- DependentMarcus J. Brooks (son)
- Dependent DOB / SSN06/15/2017 · 452-88-2201
- Dependent age (as of 12/31/2025)8
- Lived with taxpayerAll year
- Address3418 Yellowstone Blvd, Apt 5, Houston, TX 77021
- ResidencyTexas, full year (no state income tax)
Source documents
Work from these the way you would a real client's paperwork. Everything is fictional.
Objectives
What a correct return should capture.
- Determine the correct filing status: Head of Household (unmarried, paid more than half the cost of a home for a qualifying child who lived with her more than half the year).
- Claim Marcus as a qualifying child dependent.
- Report the W-2 wages.
- Apply the 2025 Head of Household standard deduction ($23,625).
- Look up the tax from the tax tables.
- Claim the Child Tax Credit on Schedule 8812: $2,200 per qualifying child under 17. Income is far below the $200,000 phase-out. Because her tax exceeds the credit, the full credit is nonrefundable here (no additional child tax credit needed).
- Reconcile withholding to the refund.
- Note that Texas has no state income tax, so there is no state return here.
Check your work
Prepare the return in your software first. Reveal the key only to compare.
Answer keyTry the return first, then check your work.
- Wages$52,000
- Adjusted gross income$52,000
- Standard deduction (Head of Household, 2025)$23,625
- Taxable income$28,375
- Tax (from tax tables)$3,065
- Child Tax Credit (Schedule 8812)$2,200
- Tax after credit$865
- Federal withholding$3,600
- Refund$2,735
Head of Household requires being unmarried and paying more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying person who lived with you more than half the year. The 2025 Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per qualifying child under 17 (refundable portion capped at $1,700), but here her tax ($3,065) is larger than the credit, so the full $2,200 reduces tax and no refundable additional child tax credit is needed. Income is far below the $200,000 phase-out. Texas has no state income tax. 2025 amounts; tax is from the tax tables, so software may differ by a dollar or two.
The completed return
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