@alex-kantner wrote:
I have all of it entered, but TurboTax is telling me I don't qualify. Should I upgrade to talk to someone?
Does the program give a reason? You must work to use the credit or FSA. If you are married filing jointly, your spouse must also work or be a full time student. (If your spouse is unemployed and looking for work, the expenses are "qualified", but the dollar value of the credit is limited to the income of the lower-earning spouse.). If you are married filing separately, the maximum FSA amount is $2500 (the rest is added back to your taxable income) and the credit on top is disallowed by law. If you haven't enter your or your spouse's income yet because you don't have the W-2, you won't qualify for now but the credit will be recalculated when you enter your income.
You also need to make sure the dependents are actually listed as dependents (lived in your home more than half the year). If the children live more than half the year with their other parent, you can't claim the credit or use the FSA even if you pay the expenses. If your dependents did live with you, you can go back and double check your answers in the dependent interview.
If you are using Turbotax online, the free telephone help is supposed to just cover program problems, and they want you to upgrade to Live for actual tax advice. However, if you can't figure out why you don't qualify, I would start by calling the free support and ask them to give you more details on why you don't qualify.
