@heeljeff - If you are the one paying for the child care and the child did *not* physically live with you *more* than half the year then this question is moot anyway. The parent that did *not* live with the child can NEVER claim the Child Care Credit reguardless of who pays it.
Child care is "work related". It can only be claimed if the care was necessary so that you (and your spouse if married) could work. Only if the child lived with you more than half the year *and* the care was required so that you could work is it allowed. If you did not live with the child or work at the time that the care was provided then it was not necessary so that you could work and therefore is not allowed.
Your original question that started this discussion was if the *custodial* parent (which under tax law is the parent that does physically live with the child) claim the credit of the non-custodial parent pays part of it - not if the noncustodial parent could claim it which they cannot.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
