Mom has right to claim our daughter this year yet I paid for all daycare expenses in 2017. Can I claim daycare expense as deduction and she can claim her for dependent?

[twestling]

We have a 50/50 Court agreement so she lives with both of us equally. She claims her for 2017 for the child care credit, but since she didn't pay for daycare can I still file that as a deduction and let her claim the dependency credit? It says I am unable to claim child care credit because she not listed as my dependent.

[IsabellaG]

You would have to be able to file as Head of Household. The child would have to live with you for more than half the year. Even with a 50/50 custody agreement, one person would have the child physically present in their home for at least one day more. And that person can file as Head of Household even if they don't claim the dependent, and can claim the Child Care Credit. The other parent claims the exemption and the Child Tax Credit.

[twestling]

My ex is saying she can't claim our daughter on her taxes because her social appears on my Part II Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses even though I answered "Yes we have a court agreement that my ex gets to claim her as a dependent this year" when prompted in Turbo Tax questions in the dependent section. Under exemptions 6a I claimed myself and c (Dependents) my daughter doesn't appear at all on my final print out just under Part II Credit for Child Care and Dependent Care Expenses. Can I speak to a turbo tax representative to see why its not allowing her to file her as a dependent while Im entitled to child care expense? Is this a Turbo Tax issue or IRS?

[IsabellaG]

If your ex is unable to e-file and claim your daughter, she's going to have to mail her return. Because your return was already accepted, and whatever information the IRS is using to reject her return isn't going to change. Does your return show you as Head of Household, or did you indicate that the child lived with you for 7 months or more

Here's a link to contact TurboTax, but again, your ex will need to file by mail. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4196785-i-need-live-help">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/419678...>

[twestling]

Just spoke with her... She said she is using Turbo tax and it got rejected because her the daughters social security number is already linked to mine when I filed my tax return because our daughter social is used appears for the daycare deduction even though I declined the dependency credit this year. Does she need to call Turbo Tax to see if they can fix the issue so her return can get accepted and allow her to use our daughter social for the dependent section in the beginning info section for claiming her as a dependent?

[IsabellaG]

The IRS is going to continue to reject her e-file, because according to them, you are claiming your daughter either as a dependent or as a qualifying child  Head of Household, or because you indicated that she lived with you for more than half the year, which IS a requirement for you to claim the child care expenses.

So if she's filing as Head of Household rather than Single, or she claims your daughter lived with HER for more than half the year, the IRS will reject her return. She can either change her entries, or file her return by mail, because  your return has already been accepted. She could file as single and still claim your daughter as an exemption, but if you successfully claimed the Child Care Expenses, she won't be able to claim Head of Household. There is nothing that TurboTax can do to change this.

Please see the detailed explanation of SuperUser Opus concerning splitting the tax benefits of having a child: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2896885-our-divorce-decree-states-50-50-custody-and-alternating-ye...>

[IsabellaG]

Yes, but only if the child lived with you. In order to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit, you must be the custodial parent.

To claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit for expenses paid for your children:

• The child must be age 12 or younger at the end of the year.
• You must be the custodial parent. If the child doesn’t live with you, you can’t claim the credit even if you pay the expense.
• You must be the one who paid the expense
• You can’t pay the expense to your spouse, the other parent, someone that you claim as a dependent, or your own child age 18 or younger
• You must have earned income such as W-2 income or self-employment income
• You paid the expense so that you can work or look for work
• If you’re married, you must file a joint 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). 

Please see this link for more information.