Tax Year Prior to 2020: Child Care Credit for Son who Turned 13 in December

[jupitercloud]

I should be able to claim child care expenses for my son who was 12 years old in 2019 (until he turned 13 December 2). However, Turbo Tax Deluxe software is not allowing me to...it keeps automatically skipping the Child and Dependent Care Credit section when I navigate through. I don't know how to get around this so I can enter the child care expenses I have for Jan-Nov. 

Thanks

[WKins2]

Unfortunately, you are not able to claim the child care and dependent care expenses since your dependent turned 13 during the tax year. The way the tax code is written is that the child needs to be under 13 the ENTIRE tax year in order for you to claim the benefits. 

Click here to read more on the topic: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p503.pdf

[AmeliesUncle]

@WKins2   That is not correct.  The expenses for the time period when the child was under 13 still count towards the Dependent Care Credit.

This is an error in the program pretty much every year.

[JosephF8]

From IRS Pub 503

A qualifying person is:

 Your qualifying child who is your dependent and who was under age 13 when the care was provided.

Person qualifying for part of year.

You determine a person's qualifying status each day. For example, if the person for whom you pay child and dependent care expenses no longer qualifies on September 16, count only those expenses through September 15. Also see Yearly limit under Dollar Limit, later.

Pub 503

[jupitercloud]

That's what I thought- thanks. Do you know how to manually enter the child care expenses? I can't figure out how to enter it when the program wants to just skip that section.

[JosephF8]

I was unable to duplicate the issue you are having.

To get back and edit the Child and Dependent Care Credit in TurboTax;

• Open or continue your return
• Under Federal choose Deductions and Credits.
• Under You and Your Family Revisit or Start Child or Dependent Care Credit.

Follow the prompts paying special attention to any question relating to the below tests

There are several other tests you must meet to claim the credit:

• You (and your spouse, if you're married) must have "earned income," meaning money earned from a job. Non-work income, such as investment profits, doesn't count.
• You must have paid for the care so that you could work or look for work. Being a full-time student or a parent unable to care for themselves does count as "working" for the purposes of the credit even if you don’t receive any income for it.
• If you are married, you must file a joint tax return.
• You must provide the name, address and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) of the person who provided the care. The taxpayer ID number is either a Social Security number (SSN) or an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Ask your care provider for the number.