topic Child care credit for eligible child born in 2021 cannot be taken in Deductions & credits

Child care credit for eligible child born in 2021 cannot be taken

AndyCG — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:12:51 GMT

I'm doing a 2022 tax return that involves a child born in September 2021. Child care expenses were incurred for this child, but the software won't let me input the expenses to get the credit, apparently because the designer thought that a person who lived with the taxpayer for less than one half year is automatically not eligible. This is WRONG. IRS publication 503 clearly states: "Birth or death of otherwise qualifying person. In determining whether a person is a qualifying person, a person who was born or died in 2021 is treated as having lived with you for more than half of 2021 if your home was the person's home more than half the time he or she was alive in 2021."

Will the software be fixed so that I can input the expenses for this child and get the credit?

Re: Child care credit for eligible child born in 2021 cannot be taken

FangxiaL — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 01:39:05 GMT

Did you say that your child lived with you the whole year in 2021? Don't enter any amount less than 12 months.

Re: Child care credit for eligible child born in 2021 cannot be taken

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 01:42:13 GMT

The mistake you have made is that for a newborn you have to say the child lived with you the WHOLE YEAR. You say that in My Info---and the screens actually tell you that. You need to correct that so that you get the child-related credits on your 2021 return.

Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number. If your child was born in 2021make sure you said he lived with you the whole year. There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support. Say NO to that question.

In order to get the childcare credit you must also show income from each parent if you are filing a joint return. Make sure the W-2's are entered under the correct names; if one of you has self-employment income that shows a loss you cannot get the credit.

Re: Child care credit for eligible child born in 2021 cannot be taken

AndyCG — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 02:02:17 GMT

Thanks for your reply! I have now fixed it and have entered the expense for the baby. The instruction about entering the whole year when I put in the baby's information confused me (a lawyer).