For tax year 2024, Colorado's Early Childhood Educator Income Tax Credit paid $852 at Early Childhood Professional (ECP) Level I, $1,136 at ECP II and $1,705 at ECP III through VI, per the state's credit page at tax.colorado.gov.
It requires the ECE Professional Credential from CDEC, six months at a program rated at least Level 1 in Colorado Shines, and federal AGI of $75,000 or less ($150,000 for joint filers).
Who qualifies for the Colorado early childhood educator tax credit
The state's credit page lists three conditions, and each one reads off something you can check before you file: an ECE Professional Credential from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), six months at an eligible program, and federal adjusted gross income within the limit covered in the next section.
An eligible program, on that page, means one rated at least Level 1 in Colorado Shines, Colorado's QRIS for licensed programs serving children birth to five.
The credential is the lever.
The state prices the credit by level on the Early Childhood Professional (ECP) ladder, so the level on your CDEC credential — not your job title — decides which row of the state's table you land on.
Because higher levels pay more, the credential is also the part of eligibility that sets your amount.
The program condition is a floor.
Every licensed program serving children ages 0–5 enters Colorado Shines at Level 1, and Level 1 is the rating the credit requires at minimum — so the test is about your program being in the state's rating system, not about it reaching a top rating.
If you are unsure where your program stands, confirm it with CDEC.
Colorado's credit is one of the state educator tax credits our research could verify as of October 2026.
The educator tax credits by state overview covers the others and how their eligibility differs.
Credit amounts by credential level
For tax year 2024, Colorado's tax agency published these amounts on the credit's page at tax.colorado.gov:
| Early Childhood Professional (ECP) level | Credit (tax year 2024) |
|---|---|
| ECP I | $852 |
| ECP II | $1,136 |
| ECP III–VI | $1,705 |
The table steps up twice and then flattens.
Moving from ECP I to ECP II raises the credit, and reaching ECP III raises it again — but levels III, IV, V and VI are paid the same $1,705 on the state's tax year 2024 table.
Once you hold ECP III, moving to level IV, V or VI does not raise the credit at the tax year 2024 amounts.
Amounts are set per tax year.
The credit page as read in October 2026 published the tax year 2024 figures and did not show amounts for tax year 2025 or 2026 — so treat the table above as dated, not current, and confirm the live table on the credit page at tax.colorado.gov before you plan around a number.
Amounts change by tax year — confirm before you count on one
The income limit for the Colorado educator tax credit
The credit has an income ceiling measured on your federal return: federal adjusted gross income (AGI) of $75,000 or less, or $150,000 or less for joint filers.
AGI is the line your federal income tax return reports, so the test reads that return — not your hourly wage and not your paycheck alone.
This is the condition to check first if your household income has moved.
Our research did not record whether the credit phases out near the limit.
If you are near either threshold, confirm how your return treats it with Colorado's tax agency or a tax preparer — this page is not tax advice.
How to claim the credit on your Colorado return
The credit sits on the tax side, not the payroll side: the state publishes it on its tax agency site, tax.colorado.gov, and the requirements and amounts our research recorded sit on the Early Childhood Educator Income Tax Credit page there.
That page is the one to check for the current-year claim process and forms.
It is also a different animal from the state wage supplements and bonuses, which are program payments with their own eligibility rules and applications.
Our research read the credit page; it did not walk the return forms themselves.
Use the steps below to get eligibility straight, and take the filing mechanics from the tax agency's current-year instructions or a tax preparer.
Confirm your ECP credential level
Your amount reads off the level on your ECE Professional Credential with CDEC. If your level changed during the year you are claiming for, confirm the level CDEC has on file before you file.Check your program's rating and your six months
The credit requires six months at an eligible program — one rated at least Level 1 in Colorado Shines. Your employment records and the program's Colorado Shines standing are the two facts to have straight.Check federal AGI against the limit
The thresholds are $75,000 or less in federal AGI, or $150,000 or less for joint filers, measured on the federal return.File with the tax agency's current instructions
The credit page at tax.colorado.gov is the state's page for the credit — as read in October 2026 it showed the tax year 2024 figures. Follow the tax agency's current-year instructions and forms there rather than this page; amounts change by tax year, so check that page for the current figures.
Sunset and extension status: does the credit continue?
The credit has existed since tax year 2022.
What the research cannot confirm is its status beyond the amounts already published: the state's credit page at tax.colorado.gov, as read in October 2026, showed tax year 2024 amounts and did not show tax year 2025 or 2026 amounts, a sunset date, or an extension.
Treat that as an unfinished check, not a finding — absence on the page we read is not proof the credit ended or was extended.
Before you count on the credit for a current tax year, check the credit page at tax.colorado.gov for the live table and for any legislation touching the credit.
The conditions our research recorded — the credential, the six months and the rating floor — are the ones the credit page listed as read in October 2026, and like the amounts they can change by tax year, so confirm them when you check the current table.
This page is career information, not licensing, legal or tax advice. Credit amounts, eligibility rules and claim steps can change by tax year — confirm the current credit with Colorado's tax agency (tax.colorado.gov), and your credential level with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.