taxes
How expiring Bush tax cuts will affect you
Children worth less at tax time
Almost half of the hypothetical CCH family's bigger tax bill comes not from the increased tax rates, but from the disappearance of a popular family-friendly tax break: the child tax credit.
Currently, taxpayers can claim a credit of $1,000 per eligible child on their tax returns. Since this is a credit, it reduces a filer's tax bill dollar for dollar. A $2,500 tax bill, for example, would be cut to $1,500, thanks to a $1,000 child tax credit claim.
In 2011, however, if the Bush-era tax laws expire, each qualifying child will be worth a credit of just $500 at tax-filing time.
