Dependent care credit

[JemiahBatt]

I am 19 years old filing my taxes, and I claimed my two older siblings as dependents but TurboTax is saying they qualify for it but I don't? It isn't telling me at all why and I can't figure it out myself.

[KeshaH]

You could be eligible for the Dependent Care Credit if your older siblings are totally and permanently disabled and you have to pay someone to take care of them while you work. You wouldn't qualify for the credit for yourself, because the credit is only for dependents.

You may also qualify for the Other Dependent Credit of $500 per dependent. Again, this credit is available for dependents only.

[JemiahBatt]

Ah I misread it, they definitely don't qualify but even then it I says I still don't qualify for that credit. TurboTax is telling me they both qualify for the $500 credit but I don't. 

[BillM223]

Are you trying to file as a dependent? A dependent of whom? As Kesha said, the Credit for Other Dependents is for dependents only.

[Opus 17]

Your older siblings can't be your dependents unless you provide more than half their financial support AND their taxable income for the year is less than $5050.  This is called a "qualifying relative" dependent and should be eligible for a $500 "other dependent" credit but is not eligible for the $2000 child tax credit or the dependent care credit.

You can't be someone else's dependent and also claim dependents.  

I don't know what credit you think you should get other than the $500 for each "other" dependent.  You do not qualify for earned income credit, even if you claim your siblings as dependents, because you are not 25, and your siblings are the "wrong kind" of dependent to help you qualify for EIC.  

[JemiahBatt]

I am not a dependent, I work full time and I have worked full time the entirety of 2024, I also paid the rent and bills for them. One of them worked for a month and the other didn't work at all. I'm not looking for EIC and I never said I was, I'm simply trying to figure why I cannot get the $500 for each dependent I listed. I was never trying to file as a dependent. As I said TurboTax says they qualify but I cannot get the credit because I don't qualify to earn it, it didn't specify but the reasons were either I make too much or too little and so on.

[SusanY1]

It sounds like you have qualifying dependents for the credit, but no tax liability to use the credit.  The $500 credit for other dependents is a nonrefundable credit, so if there is no tax liability the credit can't be used. 


To see if that may be the case for you, check Line 24 of your tax return. To do that follow these steps:

From the left rail menu in TurboTax Online, select Tax Tools (You may have to scroll down on the left rail menu.)

1. Select Tax Tools 
   
2. On the drop-down select Tools 
3. On the pop-up menu titled “Tools Center”, select View Tax Summary 
4. On the left sidebar, select Preview my 1040