Dependent care credit while spouse has negative income on joint return

nnlamb25 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:48:37 GMT

Hello everyone,

I could use some help with a problem I’m facing trying to apply the dependent care credit. Let me explain my situation.

I have 2 young children. I am married and I’m filing a joint return. My wife who runs her own business has negative income this year, but I have positive income, enough income for us to qualify for the dependent care credit (making up for her loss). Through my employer, I had a $5000 FSA for dependent care. Because I had 2 children, from what I understand, I would qualify for the full dependent care credit ($6000 for 2 kids), minus what I had through my employer, meaning I should get to write off $1000.

When I attempt to access this credit, turbo tax asks if me or my wife were disabled for a full-time student which we are not. When I mark that, I am then told I do not qualify for the credit.

I tested to see if it was my wife having a negative income that disqualified us, and it looks like it is. If I adjusted my wife’s income to not be negative, it allowed us to write off a small percentage of our childcare costs.

This doesn’t seem right to me, though, because my wife and I are filing a joint return so I thought our income was considered combined. The IRS’s website even says you would qualify for the credit if your spouse was looking for work - which would mean they have no income.

Is this a glitch in Turbo tax’s system? Or do they really look at both spouse’s income individually for that specific credit regardless of filing a joint return?

Re: Dependent care credit while spouse has negative income on joint return

DMarkM1 — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 14:00:14 GMT

You are correct qualifying dependent care expenses cannot exceed the lower earned income of the joint filing taxpayers.

Additionally, both spouses on a joint return must have earned income in order to qualify for the Dependent Care Credit. The spouses can be looking for work but they must have at some point found or had a job and earned income.

Further, the credit is not available for married filing separately.

Click here for more details from Publication 503.

topic Dependent care credit while spouse has negative income on joint return in Deductions & credits

Dependent care credit while spouse has negative income on joint return

Re: Dependent care credit while spouse has negative income on joint return