Claiming child care

[SG716]

Super confused here....if my childs father is claiming him as a dependent this year, is there a way I can claim his child care? Right now I have it as I am filing Head of Household, and my childs status is Nondependent-for EIC/dependent care only? Is this going to effect any potential tax breaks his father would get aside from the child care credit? Please help!! Thanks!

[DMarkM1]

So far everything you write is correct.  Assuming you are the custodial parent (with whom the child spent the most nights), the entries you have made indicate that you can continue to the the child and dependent care credit area and make the entries for that credit. 

1.  Click "Deductions & Credits" at the top of the page.

2.  Scroll down to "You and your family"

3.  Click "Show more"

4.  Find the "Child and Dependent Care" topic 

5.  Click "start/revisit"

You and only you as the custodial parent are allowed to claim the earned income credit, childcare credit, and head of household based on the dependent that you and the child's father are sharing.  He can only claim the child tax credit as the non-custodial parent.  Here is a link with more information.  

[Epippin]

So with that being said, will it accept his claim after mine has finished processing and can he still e-file or does he need to mail his in? Mine was approved and he tried to submit his two days after mine and he got denied because of the child ssn on both forms, even though I didn’t claim her I only claimed the child care I paid for.?! 

[JosephF8]

If his efile has been denied for the social being on both. Then yes he will have to mail it in to claim the Child Tax Credit.

[AmeliesUncle]

Does the father live with you?  If so, the child can only be on ONE tax return.  You would need to amend your tax return to either remove the child or to claim the child as a full dependent.

If the father does NOT live with you, you need to give the Father Form 8332 in order for him to claim the child (I am assuming the child lives with you).  When the father claims the child, he needs to tell the program that the child does not live with him, and that he is claiming the child by an agreement (and using Form 8332).

[Epippin]

No we don’t live together and we aren’t together. I technically didn’t have her ssn on my tax this year because I didn’t claim her as a dependent because we are rotating years. But when I answered the questions on mine I marked we had agreement to claim every other year! And he is filing through turbo tax also

[macuser_22]

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@Epippin wrote:

No we don’t live together and we aren’t together. I technically didn’t have her ssn on my tax this year because I didn’t claim her as a dependent because we are rotating years. But when I answered the questions on mine I marked we had agreement to claim every other year! And he is filing through turbo tax also

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ONLY the parent that physically lived with the child more than half of 2019 can claim the child care credit and then only if it was necessary so that parent could work.

If you are the custodial parent where the child physically lived for more than half the year (183 nights) then:

When you enter the dependent, you say that he/she is "Your child" (not you and your spouse if remarried),
he/she lived with you the whole year,
“no” the child did not pay more than half of his/her own support,
"yes", you have a custody agreement,
and "yes", the other parent is claiming this year.  

That will give you the EIC, Child Care Credit and Head of Household filing status if you otherwise qualify.

The child would be listed as "non-dependent EIC & Dependent Care only".

The other (non-custodial) parent can claim the child’s exemption and child tax credit only and needs a signed 8332 form to do so.

Child care is "work related". It can only be claimed if the care was necessary so that you (and your spouse if married) could work. Only if the child lived with you more than half the year *and* the care was required so that you could work is it allowed. If you did not live with the child or work at the time that the care was provided then it was not necessary so that you could work and therefore is not allowed.

See IRS Pub 503.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p503#en_US_2018_publink100048433

[Epippin]

Thank you! And with that form it means he has to mail his in then? 

[LindaB1993]

Although the rule is designed for the credits to reflect on one return and the dependent on another, Efiling both returns causes the second one to automatically reject.  The mailing option is the alternative for the second return.  It will be manually processed by IRS.