Family situation
During 2024, 3 kids under 13
First child was in school, had no child care cost
Second child had child care cost in pre-k
Third child was very young, no child care cost since spouse stayed took a long leave from the job but still employed
(so the max that would be used for the credit calculation is $6k)
Eligibility question
Spouse took a long leave from work and stayed home with the little one for a big part of the 2024 year. Based on the definition of who can take this credit, it seems that both spouses need to work or if any is not working then they need be looking for work.
So during the months that my spouse was at home with the third child, is the cost of the pre-k for the second child not eligible during those months?
Cost calculation
Additionally, its not clear how to calculate the cost of the pre-k in 2024, because for the Sep 2023 - June 2024 pre-k school year, some was prepaid in 2023 for parts of 2024 (I chose the 10 month payment plan, but the 10 monthly payments start before school starts, and therefore you are actually prepaying (in 2023) for the last two months of the school year ending in 2024). So are the prepaid months able to be calculated in 2024? Also, my spouse was on leave during these months to be with the newborn third child, so is the cost of pre-k for the second child during these months not eligible? And then I chose a different payment plan for the 2024 - 2025 school year, and they took my money for the entire Sep 2024 - Jun 2025 school year in 2024. I understand that any prepayments for 2025 cannot be taken into account, so that part is easier to calculate for 2024 - it would be total cost for Sep 2024 - Jun 2025 divided by 10 months (i.e. Sep - Jun) * 4 months (i.e. Sep - Dec). However, my spouse was on leave for one of those months while home with the third child. So is the cost of pre-k during that month not elgibile?
I am going to look at this as similar to spouses with part-time work.
You calculate the expenses for each day that your spouse "worked". However, see this about expenses you have to pay a week or a month at a time.
Note that your expenses need to be prorated for the days that your spouse was actually working. That means that much of the calculation is on an annual basis, but the amounts paid must be prorated.
It appears the your understanding is correct, but review the text about part-time work in Pub 503.