You can if your granddaughter qualifies as a "Qualifying Child" dependent and the child care was necessary so that you could both work and you both have earned income.
Child care is "work related". It can only be claimed if the care was necessary so that you (and your spouse if married) could work. Only if the child lived with you more than half the year *and* the care was required so that you could work is it allowed. If you did not live with the child or work at the time that the care was provided then it was not necessary so that you could work and therefore is not allowed.
---Tests To Be a Qualifying Child---
(Must pass ALL of these tests)
NOTE: If a child passes all of these tests he must say “yes” on his/her own tax return (if he/she files one) that another taxpayer CAN claim him/her as a dependent even if they DO NOT claim him/her)
1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother,stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of 2016, (b) under age 24 at the end of 2016 and a full-time student* for any part of 5 months of 2016, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled and must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly).
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service).
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000171012
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child is not filing a joint return.
7. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico
*A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year.
See IRS Publication 17 for more information.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2016_publink1000170876
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
