Child and Dependent Care Expenses - Qualifying Dependent with $0 costs

[jbotoole]

I have two dependents, one of whom had childcare costs in 2024.  Before leaving the page, Turbo prompted me to add my second dependent as an additional entry and indicate the cost of care for 2024 was $0.  However, when I do that, it flags the return before filing, saying I cannot have a "0" entry.... but Turbo literally prompted me to enter the second child with no costs.  It does impact my overall return, so I don't just want to delete the entry if it is authorized.  

[KrisD15]

The rule is this, the credit is based on child care expenses, but not limited by the amount per child, rather a limit based on the number of qualifying children on the return. 

The maximum is 3,000 expenses for one child and 6,000 expenses for two or more. (the percentage of expenses is based on your income)

If you paid 4,000 for one child, and only have one child, the credit will be based on 3,000 expenses.

If you paid 4,000 for one child and have two qualifying children, the credit will be based on 4,000 expenses.  

It doesn't matter if you paid for care for the second child.

You should enter the child that had the expenses paid in the Child and Dependent Care section.

You should not need to enter the second child since there were no expenses, however if the child is listed properly in the "Personal Info" section, the program should increase the amount of expenses used for the credit, up to 6,000.

The dependent must be under 13 as of December 31, 2024.