My 3yr old entered as dependent but not listed in the child care credit section

[davidkwho]

I am trying to claim preschool expenses for my 3yr old born 8/9/2015.  I have her as my dependent on the joint tax filing, thus I can see her in the "add another dependent" section.  But somehow it is not available in the dropdown list under child care and dependent credit, oddly it listed my name and my wife's name...   Can someone please help.  Using Turbo tax deluxe with the latest update as of 4/3/2019.

Update: I just realized Turbo tax has carried over my 3yr old's information since tax year 2015, which at the time we only had her for 5 months.  So for the year 2016/2017, it simply carried all the information unchanged without asking me to update the information.   I am not sure how it impacted my filing for those two years, but it substantially lowered the child tax credit (from 2000 to 500) and disqualified her for child care credit.  I would caution all parents of toddlers to check your filing to make sure your dependent information is up-to-date. 

[ChristieB · Accepted solution]

I would go to the Personal Info section of TurboTax and review your entries for your child. There are certain questions within this section that could disqualify your dependent from appearing in this drop-down menu of the Child and Dependent Care Credit section, such as indicating that they provided more than half of their own living expenses.

[davidkwho]

See my updated question above.

[VolvoGirl]

So what did it carry over wrong?  

[ChristieB]

Even though your child was born mid-year, you are allowed to indicate that they have lived with you for the entire year. If the partial year selection has been carrying forward each year and is the reason why your credits were reduced, I would recommend seeing if amending your returns might be beneficial (you have 3 years from the date you filed your original tax return or within two years of the date you paid the tax, whichever is later). It's hard to know if it will have any impact without seeing all of the information, but it might be worth looking into.

[xmasbaby0]

One of the most common mistakes that messes up the childcare credit for people is listing all of the earned income under only one name on a joint return.  Make very sure that your incomes are listed under each of your names.  It’s pretty easy to check.  Go to the Income section, and click “update” on Wages and Salary.  That will take you to the W-2 Summary.  Do you see income listed under both of your names? 

 A few other things—the childcare credit is not a refund.  It can reduce your taxes owed.  If you were self-employed, but showed a loss, you will not receive the credit. 

 The person receiving the care had to be 12 or under or qualified as mentally or physically disabled. To claim the childcare credit you need to be filing as Head of Household or Married Filing Jointly. (NOT married filing separately)

 If your child was born in 2018 make sure you say the child lived with you all year. The credit is a percentage of your expenses based on your AGI (the higher the income, the lower the percentage)  You must provide the Social Security number for each child you are claiming, and the Social Security number or Tax ID for each care provider.  You can claim a maximum of $6000 in expenses for 2 or more dependents.