topic Not qualifying for child care credit? in Deductions & credits

Not qualifying for child care credit?

Shade1 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:57:15 GMT

I read through previous posts, but still confused. I'd really appreciate some help.

My spouse and I are filing married, jointly. We each have w-2s and income entered separately under both of our names as we both work full-time. Total income is way below the limit for the credit. Our child is under 12, lived with us all year, social security number is entered. The amount spent on childcare is ~4K more than the 5K from the flexible spending account for childcare. The childcare provider's information was added fully.

Looking at the tax summary shows line 18-22 on the 1040 as owing Total Tax as greater than zero. Line 2 of schedule 3 is blank since turbotax is saying we don't qualify.

What am I missing?

Re: Not qualifying for child care credit?

CatinaT1 — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:31:56 GMT

Total tax is on line 24. If you see a  0  for Total Tax, then that is the reason you don't qualify for this particular credit.

The child and dependent care tax credit is nonrefundable, which means the credit cannot reduce your tax any further if it is already zero.

 You can check to be sure that is what is happening by viewing your Tax Summary.   Here is how to do that:

Log in to your tax return
Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen (you may need to click on Continue in the center first).
Click on Tools.
In the box that pops up in the center, click on View Tax Summary.

If you see a  0  for Total Tax, then that is the reason you don't qualify for this particular credit.

Re: Not qualifying for child care credit?

Shade1 — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:49:46 GMT

Total Tax is greater than zero (by quite a bit) in line 24.

Re: Not qualifying for child care credit?

Shade1 — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 16:50:17 GMT

Total Tax is greater than zero (by quite a bit) in line 24.

Re: Not qualifying for child care credit?

MayaD — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 17:25:00 GMT

The child and Dependent Care credit for 2022 is $3000 per qualified child. You can not claim a dependent care credit if you had pre-tax money in your FSA for Dependent Care. You are getting the tax benefit by excluding $5000 from your taxable income.

Re: Not qualifying for child care credit?

Shade1 — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 17:29:49 GMT

Thank you for clarifying. I was operating under the assumption that they stacked, like if your total expense was X-5K > 3K then you would still qualify for the credit.