There are a couple of reasons that TurboTax would determine that you're not eligible for the credit:
1 - your child was older than 13 years old,
2 - both spouses don't have income in TurboTax yet,
3 - you've received tax free dependent care benefits
To verify that you're eligible for the credit,
- Check your child's birthdate to make sure TurboTax is calculating the right age.
- If the birthdate is correct, make sure you've checked the "Spouse W-2" box on the appropriate W-2 so that TurboTax correctly allocates some income to you and some to your spouse.
- If the W-2s are allocated correctly, check box 10 of your W-2s for any tax free dependent care benefits. You generally can't receive tax free benefits and a tax credit for the same expenses, so if you received these benefits you will usually not be eligible for the credit as well.
For more information, see:
- Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit
- Dependent Care Benefits (from Publication 503)
- Am I eligible to claim the child and dependent care credit?
- The Ins and Outs of the Child and Dependent Care Credit
