Estimated refundable New York State credit. Your final refund also depends on the rest of your return and any offsets. This is an illustration, not tax advice or an official filing.
FORM NY-ESCC-2026 · CREDIT REPORTREV. OCT 2026
NY Empire State Child Credit Calculator (2026)
Estimate your refundable New York Empire State child credit for 2026. Enter federal AGI and qualifying-child counts, confirm full-year residency and SSN-or-ITIN eligibility, then compare filing statuses. The New York credit is separate from the federal child tax credit.
Last updated: November 7, 2026
Credit context
| TY2026 — qualifying child under age 4: | $1,000 per child |
|---|---|
| TY2026 — qualifying child age 4–16: | $500 per child |
| Federal AGI threshold — MFJ: | $110,000 |
| Federal AGI threshold — Single / HoH / QSS: | $75,000 |
| Federal AGI threshold — MFS: | $55,000; MFS is eligible |
| Phase-out reduction: | $16.50 per completed $1,000 above the threshold (round down) |
| TY2027 published amounts: | $1,000 under age 4 / $500 age 4–16; no indexing |
Qualifying child. Your child, sibling, stepsibling or a descendant of any of them, including a stepchild, eligible foster child, adopted child or a child placed with you for legal adoption. The child lived with you for more than half the year, was under 17 on December 31, did not provide more than half their own support and did not file a joint return (except solely to claim a refund of withholding or estimated tax paid). The child is a U.S. citizen or national, or has an IRS-issued ITIN. You and every listed child need a valid SSN or ITIN.
Tie-breaker rules. If more than one taxpayer may claim a child, a parent has priority. Between parents filing separately, the parent with whom the child lived longer has priority; equal time goes to the parent with the higher federal AGI who files a New York return. If neither parent claims a child they could claim, another claimant must have higher federal AGI than the highest-AGI parent. Otherwise the highest-federal-AGI eligible claimant has priority. Competing claims are not adjudicated by this estimator.
Refundable credit. Submit IT-213 with your New York State return and carry the credit to IT-201 line 63. Unused credit can be refunded or applied as an overpayment to next year’s tax; the Tax Department pays no interest on that refund or overpayment. Zero or less means not eligible at those inputs. Debt offsets and the final return refund are not modeled.
Context only — New York State credit amounts for 2026 and 2027 (updated March 10, 2026) and IT-213-i qualifying-child and calculation instructions (TY2025). The credit is decoupled from the federal child tax credit. Historical amounts appear only in the methodology reference card.
ESTIMATED · NOT ADVICE
Your 2026 Empire State child credit report
ILLUSTRATION · NOT OFFICIAL
FULL CREDIT
| Empire State child credit (Form IT-213) | $1,500.00 |
|---|
- AGI entered
- $80,000.00
- Children under 4
- 1
- Children age 4–16
- 1
- Credit before phase-out
- $1,500.00
- Phase-out threshold
- $110,000.00
- AGI excess
- $0.00
- Completed $1,000 increments
- 0
- Phase-out reduction
- $0.00
Filing status comparison
Illustration only — AGI, child counts and eligibility confirmations stay fixed. Filing status must reflect your circumstances.
| Filing status | Federal AGI threshold | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Single | $75,000.00 | $1,417.50 |
| Head of household | $75,000.00 | $1,417.50 |
| Qualifying surviving spouse | $75,000.00 | $1,417.50 |
| Married filing jointly | $110,000.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Married filing separately | $55,000.00 | $1,087.50 |
Documentation checklist
- Federal AGI and your New York filing status; Form IT-213 submitted with the New York State return.
- Valid SSN or ITIN for you and each qualifying child; retain records rather than entering identification numbers here.
- Age, relationship, residency, support, joint-return and citizenship or ITIN records for each child, including any tie-breaker support.
- Review IT-201 line 63, refund or next-year overpayment treatment, and any offsets outside this estimate.
FAQ
Is this the federal child tax credit?
No. Beginning in tax year 2025, New York State decoupled the Empire State child credit from the federal child tax credit. This estimator uses the New York per-child amounts and income reduction only. There is no percentage-of-federal-credit branch and no federal credit amount to enter.
How much is the credit for 2026?
Before the income reduction, the refundable credit is $1,000 for each qualifying child under age 4 and $500 for each qualifying child age 4 through 16. The New York Tax Department publishes the same amounts for 2027. These amounts are not indexed. A child who is 17 on December 31 is outside both age groups.
How does rounding down the income excess work?
Subtract your filing-status threshold from federal AGI and count only completed $1,000 increments. Each increment reduces the credit by $16.50, without reducing it below zero. For example, a $500 excess has no reduction; a $59,900 excess has 59 completed increments and a $973.50 reduction. The banner can show PHASING OUT while the reduction is still zero when AGI is above the threshold by less than $1,000.
Can an ITIN family or someone filing separately qualify?
Yes. A valid SSN or ITIN is accepted for the taxpayer and every child listed on Form IT-213. Married filing separately remains eligible with a $55,000 federal AGI threshold. MFJ uses $110,000; Single, head of household and qualifying surviving spouse use $75,000. Full-year New York State residency and the qualifying-child requirements still apply.
What happens if the credit exceeds my New York tax?
The credit is refundable. Submit Form IT-213 with your New York State income tax return and carry the credit to Form IT-201, line 63. If you do not use the full credit against your tax liability, you may request a refund or apply the overpayment to next year’s tax. The Tax Department does not pay interest on that refund or overpayment. An estimated credit of zero means you are not eligible to claim it at those inputs.
Which eligibility details does this estimate leave out?
The estimator assumes the children you enter meet the relationship, support, citizenship or ITIN and joint-return rules and are allocated to you under the tie-breaker rules. It does not resolve competing claims, part-year residency or IT-203 proration, offsets for debts or other tax liabilities, or the final refund on your return. Confirm the current Form IT-213 instructions before filing.
Methodology
TY2026 authority. The New York State Empire State child credit page, updated March 10, 2026, governs the 2026 amounts: $1,000 per qualifying child under age 4 plus $500 per qualifying child at least age 4 but less than 17. The page publishes the same amounts for 2027; there is no indexing. The IT-213-i instructions currently published (TY2025) supply the decoupling, floor rule and qualifying-child definition used here.
TY2025 reference only. The TY2025 instruction set used $1,000 under age 4 and $330 for ages 4–16. Those historical amounts are not the TY2026 calculation: the current Tax Department page specifies $1,000/$500 for 2026 and 2027.
Decoupled credit. The instructions say: “For tax year 2025 New York State has decoupled from the federal child tax credit.” There is no 33%-of-federal branch. Credit before phase-out = $1,000 × qualifying children under age 4 + $500 × qualifying children age 4–16. No qualifying children means no credit.
Completed $1,000 increments. Federal AGI thresholds are $110,000 MFJ, $75,000 Single/HoH/QSS and $55,000 MFS. MFS is eligible. Excess = max(0, federal AGI − threshold); increments = floor(excess / $1,000); reduction = min(credit before phase-out, $16.50 × increments); credit = max(0, credit before phase-out − reduction). IT-213-i line 6 says: “Round down the amount from Form IT-201, line 19 to the nearest $1,000. If the amount is zero or less, enter 0.” Its example is: “For example, decrease $35,999 to $35,000.” The thresholds are whole thousands, so rounding AGI down before subtracting the threshold gives the same completed increments. A sub-$1,000 excess produces no reduction. This is a floor calculation, not a ceiling or continuous linear reduction. The zero-credit income depends on the number and ages of children.
Eligibility and refund. Check full-year New York State residency first, then the SSN-or-ITIN confirmation for the taxpayer and every qualifying child. The second confirmation also covers age under 17 on December 31 and living with you more than half the year. Relationship, support, citizenship/ITIN, joint-return and tie-breaker details are explained above and assumed satisfied. IT-213-i line 9 directs the credit to IT-201 line 63 and says: “If the amount is zero or less, you are not eligible to claim the Empire State child credit.” The credit is refundable; unused credit can be refunded or applied as an overpayment to the following year, without interest.
Scope and protected inputs. Competing claims/tie-breaker adjudication, part-year residency proration (IT-203), debt offsets and the final return refund are not modeled. Full-string parsing accepts complete thousands-comma groups. Invalid or empty drafts remain visible with an error while retaining the last valid value. AGI cents round half-up; negative values become zero; AGI is capped at $10,000,000. Child counts must be whole numbers, capped at 99 per age group. Credit math uses integer cents. Reset restores C01 and clears invalid drafts. Copy link includes the six current valid inputs; the filing-status comparison holds all other inputs fixed.
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Empire State child credit (updated March 10, 2026), and current IT-213-i instructions (TY2025), New for 2025, General information and lines 6/9. Accessed November 7, 2026.Last updated: November 7, 2026 · 2026 Empire State child credit illustration