jh2k
Level 2

Tax Credit for Dependent Child

Hi, everyone. For previous tax years, my wife and I filed our tax returns  separately.  My wife has been taking the child dependent credits and deductions for all those years. For 2020, we decided to file joinly as married. However, TurboTax 2020 will not allow us to claim our son as a dependent. It seems to me that somehow in the TurboTax local files may possibly be blocking that feature since our previous filing records indicate that only one of us was allowed to take that child credit when we filed separately before. Please advise. Thanks.

Deductions & credits

How old was your son on 12/31/2020?

jh2k
Level 2

Deductions & credits

My son was 14 years old then.

jh2k
Level 2

Deductions & credits

Any answer, please?

DMarkM1
Employee Tax Expert

Deductions & credits

No. You should be able to file jointly and claim the child dependent in TurboTax in spite of prior year filing. 

  1. Go back to the "My Info" section  
  2. Delete your dependent first 
  3. Click continue at the bottom of the page.  
  4. Click "My Info"
  5. Go back and edit your personal data 
  6. Select "Married Filing Jointly"
  7. Add/edit your spouse's info  
  8. Then "Add a dependent

Take note of how you answer the questions so that if it doesn't update to claim your son, you can repost with what you answered and someone will be able to better assist.

 

 

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jh2k
Level 2

Deductions & credits

I forgot to reply last year. It worked, so thank you, and sorry for the late reply.