Can i claim child and dependent care credit if i had government assistance in paying for daycare this year?

[tututax133]

Im not sure if I am supposed to claim this credit. My child is in daycare but that daycare is paid for by an assistance program because of my financial situation. How do I complete this section of my taxes?

[Bsch4477]

If a family receives free child care, such as from a state-subsidized program, that care cannot be used to qualify for the credit.

[JosephS1]

If the daycare was fully paid for by an agency then there is no deduction or credit allowed as you did not pay any of the cost yourself.  If there was only a partial payment that did not exceed the maximum you can claim per child of $3,000, then there would be a dependent care credit up to the $3,000 limit.  The instructions per the IRS for Form 2441 is in the link below.

Form 2441 Instructions

@tututax133 

[twshadow22]

That's the question. I did receive assistance with my daycare cost. Only partial assistance and I paid the rest. My question being can I deduct the total amount paid to the daycare? Or can I only deduct the amount that I personally paid to the daycare?

[BillM223]

You can use for the calculation of the deduction only the amount that you actually paid. Note that you have to apply the government assistance amount first, then the amount you paid.