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The Senate’s version of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” would permanently expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC), offering increased tax relief to tens of millions of American families.
Currently under committee review, the legislation would raise the CTC from $2,000 to $2,200 per child and enshrine it permanently in the tax code — replacing the temporary expansion set to expire after 2025.
Unlike the House version, which previously proposed a $2,500 credit, the Senate plan takes a more modest approach while adding a key provision to adjust the credit annually for inflation. According to the bill’s text, starting in 2027, the nonrefundable portion of the CTC would automatically increase with inflation, while the refundable portion would remain unchanged.
“This is designed to help working Americans, people who are getting up every day, going to work, and this gives them some relief,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a Fox News interview last week. “And I think that’s what the President was focused on is delivering relief for working class families.”
“We make permanent the expanded child tax credit and the increased standard deduction,” Thune said, adding, “This will be a good, strong bill for middle-income Americans when it comes to tax relief.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that the plan would benefit more than 40 million American families, calling the bill “a new golden age for all Americans.”
Under current law, the CTC is set to fall to just $1,000 per child after 2025 unless Congress renews it. The Senate plan would not only raise the credit but also remove the expiration provision, offering long-term certainty for parents.
The bill also requires Social Security numbers for both parents and children to claim the credit, ensuring benefits go only to those with valid legal status.
First introduced in 1997 at $400 per child, the CTC has steadily grown over the years. President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doubled the $1,000 credit that was in place since 2012 to $2,000 and made up to $1,400 refundable for low-income households. That expansion, however, was temporary and is slated to expire in 2025.
According to the Tax Policy Center, the CTC has historically helped families across all income brackets, with broad bipartisan support for making the credit more permanent.
