The interview for child and dependent care can be confusing, and it's easy to make an answer that disallows the credit by mistake.
Here are some requirements:
1. Both spouses have earned income. This means that you need to enter your W-2s BEFORE you start the child and dependent care interview.
2. A spouse who doesn't have earned income must be either disabled or a full-time student.
3. Only the first $3,000 (one dependent) or $6,000 (two or more dependents) of care expenses counts. Everything over that is ignored for tax purposes.
4. If your FSA amount is for one dependent and is greater than $3,000, there will be no credit.
5. If your FSA amount is $5,000 and you have expenses of $6,000 for two dependents, then you will generally have a credit of $200.
6. If you indicate in the interview that you either forfeited the excess in the FSA or carried it over to another year, you may have no expenses for the credit.
I know it's not easy, but could you tell us the answers you gave in the interview?
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