Posts falsely claim Trump ended tax credit for child support recipients

"Donald Trump’s NEW CHILD SUPPORT LAW will be crazy. If you receive child support you will no longer be able to claim the child on your taxes, only the person who is PAYING the child support can," says a January 19, 2025 Facebook post.

Image

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken January 23, 2025

The claims circulated on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X, including posts in Spanish.

The online rumor of a new "Trump child support law," follows the president signing a series of executive orders in his first week back in the White House -- ranging from dismantling the federal government’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs to attempting to restrict birthright citizenship. However, no such law regarding child support was among the flurry of actions taken by Trump since his return to office.

Posts suggest that recipients of child support will no longer be able to claim the child on income tax returns. But a review of Trump’s stated policies, recent announcements and social media accounts reveal no such proposal as of January 27, 2025 (archived here, here and here).

Established in 1997 through the Taxpayer Relief Act the Child Tax Credit (CTC) has been expanded multiple times with bipartisan support.

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), current tax law regarding CTC allows families with qualifying children under age 17 to claim the tax break (archived here) if their incomes are below the threshold.

In cases where the dependent's parents are divorced, separated or live apart, only one person can claim tax benefits related to a qualifying child. This is typically the custodial parent, "the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year," says the IRS website (archived here).

The claim coincides with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) being set to expire at the end of 2025 (archived here).

Signed into law by Trump in, 2017, the TCJA increased the credit up to $2,000 for each qualifying child.

That amount could decrease under the president's second term if Congress does not move to extend the act. Trump and US Vice President JD Vance supported expanding the child tax credit during the election (archived here and here). And the Republican Party’s official 2024 campaign platform indicates an intent to make the TCJA permanent.

However, on January 23, 2025, the New York Times released a 50-page list that was shared among top Republicans. It contained ideas on how to cover the cost of a tax cut and immigration crackdown bill, including tax cut proposals (archived here). Among them is eliminating credits for child and dependent care.

More of AFP's reporting on political misinformation can be found here.