I don't understand why we do not qualify for the child care credit because of not having earned income. My husband is on full time disability, is this the reason?

[mwsteck]

He is not able to care for the kids a lot of the time because of his disability (autoimmune condition) - so we pay for child care while I work. I am not understanding why we don't qualify or if I am entering something incorrectly. (we file married/jointly).

[Coleen3 · Accepted solution]

Normally both spouses must have earned income but see the exception below. Be sure to be careful answering the questions.  You would have to check the box that your husband was incapable of self-care (if he was) and for how many months this situation lasted.

There are several qualifications that must be met. Please see below:

To qualify for this credit, you must meet all of these criteria:

• You (and your spouse, if filing jointly) must have earned income
• The earned income requirement for one spouse is waived if s/he was a full-time student or
• Disabled, if they lived with the other spouse for more than 6 months in 2017
• You paid caregiving expenses so that you (and your spouse, if filing jointly) could work or look for work
• The work/look for work requirement for one spouse is waived if s/he was a full-time student or
• Disabled, if they lived with the other spouse for more than 6 months in 2017
• You paid a caregiver to care for a Qualifying Person. The caregiver cannot be:
• Your spouse;
• Your dependent;
• Your child if they were under 19 on the last day of 2017, even if not your dependent; or
• The parent of the Qualifying Person, if the Qualifying Person is your child under the age of 13 during 2017.
• You cannot file with the Married Filing Separately filing status
• You must furnish the care provider's name, address, and (unless it's a tax-exempt organization) their SSN, ITIN, or EIN on your return.

[mwsteck]

ok - I figured out that I had to list him as the primary person on the return, in order for it to even ask me the question about not being capable of self care. Once this was switched, it allowed me to claim the credit properly. Thanks!

[Coleen3]

Great!