No, you may not claim the child tax credit for a child who has an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) rather than a social security number (SSN). According to the retrieved information, specifically from § 24 of the Internal Revenue Code and various IRS publications and FAQs, a valid SSN is required for each child for whom you claim the child tax credit.
Subsection 24(h)(7) explicitly states that no credit shall be allowed unless the taxpayer includes the social security number of the qualifying child on the tax return. The term "social security number" refers to one issued by the Social Security Administration to a U.S. citizen or pursuant to specific provisions of the Social Security Act.
Additionally, multiple excerpts from IRS publications and FAQs reinforce this requirement. For instance, IRS Publication 1915 (6/2023) repeatedly emphasizes that an ITIN cannot be used to claim the child tax credit and that a valid SSN must be provided for each child. Similarly, the IRS FAQ from 2022 and 2023 clarifies that for tax years 2018 through 2025, the child must have an SSN valid for employment before the due date of the return to be eligible for the child tax credit.
Therefore, a child with an ITIN does not meet the identification requirements for the child tax credit, and you must provide a valid SSN for each child to claim the credit.
Sources:
Publication 1915 (6/2023)
§ 24. Child tax credit
Publication 1915 (2/2021)
