EITC and Tax Credits in Colorado

Where to start

For a wider help plan, use the Colorado help page and the Colorado assistance guide with this tax page. Tax credits are one part of help, not the whole safety net.

Which year are you working on? For an unfiled 2025 return, get 2025 forms and the 2025 credit figures below. For wages earned in 2026, save your records now and plan to file the 2026 return in 2027. The 2026 state EITC and Family Affordability rules are different.

Quick credit table for Colorado parents

These are not guaranteed payments. A credit is based on your own income, filing status, and child rules. For an unfiled 2025 return, the 2025 rows still apply; for work in 2026, use the state and IRS tax-year 2026 guidance when those returns are filed in 2027.

Federal and Colorado EITC

The Earned Income Tax Credit is for workers. For 2025 returns filed in 2026, the IRS says the EITC amount depends on earned income, filing status, investment income, and the number of qualifying children. You can use the EITC Assistant to check your situation before you file.

For 2025, the IRS income limit for a single or head-of-household filer is $19,104 with no qualifying child, $50,434 with one, $57,310 with two, and $61,555 with three or more. Investment income must be $11,950 or less. The top 2025 EITC amount is $649 (no child), $4,328 (one), $7,152 (two), or $8,046 (three or more). Both earned income and adjusted gross income rules apply. These are ceilings, not refund estimates. Use the IRS EITC tables to see filing-status limits.

Colorado offers a refundable state EITC to qualifying full-year and part-year residents. It is normally based on the federal EITC you were allowed. For 2025, Colorado lists the state credit at 50% of the federal amount. For 2026 and later, it lists 25%. Part-year residents must follow state apportionment rules. Some people who are ineligible for federal EITC may still qualify through special Colorado rules.

Colorado also has an important path for some ITIN filers and some younger workers who cannot claim federal EITC. If that may apply, the Colorado COEITC page explains when DR 0104TN may be needed. If your family uses ITINs, ask free tax help before guessing.

Filing-status note: Federal EITC rules for a married person filing separately are limited. A separated spouse may qualify in specific situations; do not assume all married-filing-separately parents qualify. See IRS Publication 596 or ask a trained preparer.

Child tax credits in Colorado

Colorado parents may need to check three child credits. The federal Child Tax Credit is on your federal return. The Colorado Child Tax Credit and the Family Affordability Tax Credit are on your Colorado return.

For 2025, the federal Child Tax Credit can be up to $2,200 per qualifying child, and the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) can be up to $1,700 per child. A child is generally under 17 at year-end. For the 2025 CTC/ACTC, each child must have a Social Security number valid for work. The filer, or one spouse on a joint return, needs one too. These numbers must be issued by the filing deadline, including valid extensions. For the ACTC, earned-income rules also apply. Check Schedule 8812 before claiming the credit.

The regular Colorado Child Tax Credit is for eligible children under age 6. For 2025, Colorado treats single, head of household, and married filing separately as single filers for this credit. The child must usually meet federal relationship and residency tests. But Colorado does not require a child to have a Social Security number for this state credit.

The Colorado Family Affordability Tax Credit applies to eligible tax years, including 2024 and 2025, for qualifying children younger than 17. A child under 6 may qualify for both this credit and the regular Colorado Child Tax Credit. Colorado has paused the Family Affordability credit for tax year 2026 (returns filed in 2027). Do not plan on that credit for 2026 income. See the official state credit assistant for the notice and 2025 guidance.

To claim Colorado child credits, you usually file DR 0104, DR 0104CR, and DR 0104CN. The state DR 0104CN page explains the form, and the Colorado credit assistant can help with the regular state child credit.

The regular 2025 Colorado Child Tax Credit has three income bands for single and head-of-household filers. For each child under 6, the credit is $1,200 if AGI is $26,000 or less. It is $600 for AGI of $26,001–$51,000 or $200 for AGI of $51,001–$77,000. Joint-filer bands differ. Children generally must meet relationship and residency tests, but they do not need a Social Security number for this state credit. These are 2025 values, not a promise for 2026.

Child care tax credits

If you paid for care so you could work or look for work, check child care credits. This is different from the Child Tax Credit. It is about care costs, not just having a child.

Federal Form 2441 is used to figure the federal Child and Dependent Care Credit. You may need the provider name, address, taxpayer ID number, and the amount paid. Care for a child usually must be for a qualifying child under age 13, but special rules can apply for a dependent who cannot care for themselves.

Colorado also offers a refundable care expenses credit for eligible residents. Its federal adjusted gross income ceiling is $60,000. For tax year 2025 and earlier, you generally must have claimed and been allowed the federal care credit. For tax year 2026 onward, the state rule changes. Some residents can get the Colorado credit even if they had no federal tax to pay. Other credit rules still apply. For the state credit, check form DR 0347 and DR 0104CR.

Colorado also had a separate low-income child care expenses credit for 2025 and earlier. It applied to some resident taxpayers with federal AGI of $25,000 or less, eligible care costs for a child under 13, and no federal income tax liability. That separate credit was repealed for tax year 2026. The newer regular Colorado care credit is the route to review for 2026, using its own eligibility rules.

For state filing, the Colorado care credit page explains the regular credit, and the low-income care credit page explains the older low-income rule. Outside tax season, the Colorado child care page may help with child care assistance.

Free and low-cost filing help

Free tax help is worth checking when you have EITC, child credits, custody questions, ITINs, self-employment, old notices, or child care receipts. A good preparer should explain the return before you sign it.

After October 15: IRS Free File guided software for 2025 returns was available only through the October 15 extension deadline. Do not assume a seasonal free-filing service is still taking 2025 returns in October. Call or check the provider before traveling; a VITA site may close between filing seasons. You can ask about prior-year or late-return help.

Documents checklist

Bring more papers than you think you need. Missing documents can stop a free tax site from finishing your return. For a wider benefit file, use the ASMOM documents checklist before appointments.

If someone needs an ITIN, the IRS Form W-7 page explains how to apply or renew before filing.

Deadlines and filing after April 15

The usual federal and Colorado due date for 2025 tax returns was April 15, 2026. A qualifying federal extension and Colorado’s automatic state filing extension ran to October 15, 2026. Both ordinary dates have now passed. Filing extensions never extended the April payment deadline. IRS and Colorado may grant special disaster or other relief to particular taxpayers; check notices or get tax help if that applies. The Colorado filing deadline page explains state rules.

If you are owed a refund: Filing late may still allow a refund, but time limits apply. Federal claims usually have a three-year window, and Colorado generally allows four years for an original refund return, subject to exceptions and payment rules. Do not assume you have unlimited time. The Colorado income tax guide explains refund deadlines. If you owe tax: File the missing return and pay what you can as soon as possible; ask the agency about a payment plan if needed.

Quick late-filing plan: (1) Gather 2025 tax records. (2) Check whether a federal or Colorado return was already filed. (3) Choose the correct 2025 forms or ask a free tax site whether it prepares past-due returns. (4) Keep proof of filing, payment, and any refund claim. (5) Read every tax letter for its own deadline.

If your refund is delayed, reduced, or denied

Refund delays are common when a return includes EITC, ACTC, identity checks, missing forms, self-employment income, or a child claimed by more than one person. By law, the IRS cannot issue refunds with EITC or ACTC before mid-February. Some returns take longer due to extra checks or bank processing.

For an IRS issue, use Where’s My Refund, read the notice, and respond by the deadline. If the IRS denied or reduced EITC, CTC, ACTC, ODC, or AOTC before, the IRS denied credit page explains when Form 8862 may be needed for a later return.

If Colorado rejects a refund claim or sends a notice of deficiency, act quickly. A written protest is usually due within 30 days of the mailing date. The clock starts when the state mails the notice, not when you open it. Read the notice and the Colorado protest instructions right away. IRS notices use other rules and deadlines. For help with a federal tax dispute, the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic locator may be useful.

If the tax problem is large, old, or tied to an audit, collection, identity issue, or denied credit, check the IRS LITC locator for free or low-cost tax dispute help. For benefits problems that are not tax issues, the ASMOM denied benefits guide can help you sort notices and deadlines.