How do I prove my partner was working if his 1099 shows an income too small for TurboTax/the IRS to see us as eligible for the full child and dependent care credit?

[mhrooy]

My partner works for himself and it wasn't particularly profitable as he's been trying to get his business off the ground this year. We put our toddler in daycare 2 days a week to give him the time he needs to work on his business but he hasn't made much at it yet. After entering his 1099 info and how much we spent on daycare I'm seeing a child and dependent care credit amount of about $250. This is far from the $4300 I was expecting as a 50% refund for what we paid. We don't make over the income limit, so it seems likely it's related to it looking like he didn't work much in 2021. The language of the credit states that he "must be employed full or part time or be seeking work" in order to be eligible, which is a criteria he meets. How do I prove that?

[ColeenD3]

There is more to it than that. The credit is based on the income of the smaller of the two. There is no way around this. This can happen when a business has a lot of expenses and therefore, a smaller income.

Form 2441

3 Add the amounts in column (c) of line 2. Don’t enter more than $8,000 if you had one qualifying person or $16,000 if you had two or more persons. 

4 Enter your earned income. 

5 If married filing jointly, enter your spouse’s earned income (if you or your spouse was a student or was disabled, see the instructions); all others, enter the amount from line 4 . . . . . . 

6 Enter the smallest of line 3, 4, or 5