I had Dependent Care FSA benefits through the year. I had read that I couldn't claim the credit. I filed w/o adding Childcare info though. Do I have to do an amendment?

[branpas]

I filled out Part 3 of form 2441 but not Parts 1 and 2 - I thought I didn't have to,  and I don't remember being prompted.

[MaryM428]

Part 1 of the form is for the name of the person or organization that you paid for child care

Part 2 is the names of the child or children that received child care

TurboTax would not let you file without filling out those parts of the form.  You can look at what you filed by signing into TurboTax and going to Add a State.

That will not add a state but will let you go back and review what was in your return. 

If you find that you need to file an amend, wait until your current return is processed and until the 1040X amend form is available from the IRS.  We anticipate the 1040X form to be available in mid to late March.

[branpas]

It did allow me to file with only part III completed and parts I and II blank. I wish it had stopped me but it didn’t. I thought because the FSA was through the federal government they had the info where I paid the center, how much and for whom. And thought that if I had to fill it out, it would have MADE me before filing. They already accepted it. 
Is there a chance that they will kick it back? Or do I just wait and file an amendment? When I looked at the amendment paperwork 1040x, I didn’t even see anything about form 2441. If they accept my return and give me a refund, do I HAVE to do an amendment?

thanks for your help!!

[BillM223]

The Dependent Care FSA is not through the federal government, it is through your employer. That is, your employer sets aside some money from your payroll which amount you agree to at the beginning of the year.

The amount set aside is reported in box 10 on your W-2. Normally, this amount is removed from Wages in boxes 1, 3, and 5 before your W-2 is printed.

HOWEVER, until you document that you had dependents to spend this on and you reported to whom you paid these amounts, the box 10 amount is not yet considered tax-free. That is, when you enter your W-2, the box 10 is added to your income because you haven't shown that it deserves its tax-free status yet.

Because I don't know what you have entered where, I can't say for sure, but you might actually get a larger refund from the amended return.

As for when you re-enter your return to amend it, do a Search (upper right) for child care credit and click on the jump-to link (Mac users must find child care credit in the Topics List).

[BillM223]

To be clear, now that I have reread your question, there are two parts to the Child and Dependent Care Credit:

• a credit
• an FSA which excludes income from taxation

Even if you are not eligible for the credit, you still have to justify the amount in box 10, or else pay tax on it.