You don't have to claim the child in order to claim Child Care Credit or EIC for all children living with you. However, the child needs to live with you for you to claim the Child Care Credit or EIC.
If the child doesn't live with you, the dependent care benefits (FSA) from your W-2 will be taxable.
If your child did live with you:
Be sure to indicate that your children lived with you at least 7 months. Even though there is "shared custody," the children actually live with one of you more than the other.
At one point, you will see a screen where you indicate you are letting the other parent claim the child, as a dependent, this year.
You will be able to claim the dependent care credit, earned income credit and head of household filing status, based on that child even though you are not claiming them as a dependent.
Here are the steps to claim the childcare fees. Note that you can only claim the fees that you paid during the year. The non-custodial parent won't be able to claim the dependent care credit even though he's claiming the child and paid for some childcare.
To enter your childcare expenses follow the steps below.
· Click Deductions & Credits.
· Continue to Deductions.
· Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
· Scroll down until you see Child and Dependent Care Credit
· Click Start
