The CT Child Tax Rebate was a one-time 2022 payment of up to $250 per child, capped at three children or $750 per household, authorized under Public Act 22-118. The application window closed on July 31, 2022, and Connecticut is not accepting new applications. If you qualified but never cashed your check, or your check was returned as undeliverable, the money may now sit with the state as unclaimed property and can still be recovered.
If You Never Cashed Your Rebate Check
Checks that were mailed to an outdated address and returned, or that recipients simply never deposited, are generally transferred to the Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer. Connecticut keeps a free searchable database of funds held in residents’ names. Search online at CTBigList.gov, or call the unclaimed property division at 1-800-833-7318 during business hours.1Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer. Unclaimed Property Overview
There is no expiration date on claiming unclaimed property in Connecticut. Even though the rebate was issued in 2022, the money is still recoverable.
Who the Rebate Was For
The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services based eligibility on your 2021 federal income tax return. You had to be a Connecticut resident, you had to have claimed at least one dependent child who was 18 or younger as of December 31, 2021, and your federal adjusted gross income had to fall within the program’s thresholds. Dependents listed with either a Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number qualified.2Connecticut State Government. Governor Lamont Announces Families Can Apply for the 2022 Connecticut Child Tax Rebate
The rebate paid $250 per qualifying child, up to three children, for a maximum of $750 per household.
Income Limits and Phase-Out
To receive the full $250 per child, your 2021 federal adjusted gross income (line 11 of Form 1040) had to be at or below:
- $100,000 for single filers or married filing separately
- $160,000 for head of household
- $200,000 for married filing jointly
Families earning above those limits still qualified for a reduced rebate. For every $1,000 of income over the applicable threshold, the rebate shrank by 10 percent. A married couple filing jointly with two children and an AGI of $202,000, for example, lost 20 percent of their $500 benefit, bringing it down to $400. Enough income above the limit reduced the rebate to zero.2Connecticut State Government. Governor Lamont Announces Families Can Apply for the 2022 Connecticut Child Tax Rebate
Who Claimed the Child in Shared Custody
Only the parent who actually listed the child as a dependent on their 2021 Form 1040 could apply for the rebate. Two parents could not both claim the same child. Where parents disagreed, the IRS tie-breaker rules decided who had the valid federal claim, and the Connecticut rebate followed that same determination.
Under those federal rules, the child is treated as the qualifying dependent of the parent with whom the child lived for the longer part of the year. If the time was equal, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income wins the tiebreaker.3Internal Revenue Service. TieBreaker Rules
Was the Rebate Taxable?
No, on both the state and federal side. Connecticut did not tax the rebate because the payment was structured as a rebate of surplus state revenue rather than new income, so recipients did not include it in state taxable income.4Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Child Tax Rebate
On the federal side, the IRS issued guidance covering 2022 state rebate payments, including Connecticut’s, stating it would not challenge taxpayers who excluded the payments from 2022 federal income. The exclusion applied whether a taxpayer itemized or took the standard deduction.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Issues Guidance on State Tax Payments The IRS later confirmed that state payments under social benefit programs promoting the general welfare are excludable from federal gross income and said it would not revisit the 2022 batch.6Internal Revenue Service. Federal Income Tax Consequences of Certain State Payments
Is There a New Connecticut Child Tax Credit?
Not a broad one. As of 2026, Connecticut has not enacted a permanent child tax credit to replace the 2022 rebate. The legislature considered larger proposals in recent sessions and scaled back to a $200 income tax reduction for working families who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and have at least one dependent. The $200 amount does not scale with the number of children.
Discussions of a larger middle-class child tax credit have continued without becoming law. If Connecticut enacts a new program, the DRS would administer it and announce details at portal.ct.gov/DRS. For now, the 2022 rebate remains the only child-specific payment the state has issued, and the only step still available to residents is claiming an uncashed check through the unclaimed property process.