Trying to go back to child care deductions. But it's not allowing me and i don't want to start all over.

[CatinaT1]

Yes.  Here is the best way to get to this area in TurboTax:

1.  Open (continue) your return, if you're not already in it;
2. In TurboTax, search (upper right magnifying glass) for Form 2441;
3. Click the "Jump to" link in the search results.

[Stewdj4]

The dependent care credit section of Turbo Tax Online 2019 doesn’t seem to be working.  When you input a dollar amount, it reports $0 of qualified expense and simply replies you don’t qualify.  I definitely qualify. It appears to be a software bug to fix.  I have seen other users having issues trying to claim this tax credit for the 2019 year.  TurboTax, please fix!

[SusanY1]

To qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit, ALL of the following must be true:

1. Your dependent is listed (and is either under age 13 or is marked as disabled)
2. You have earned income.
3. Your spouse (if filing jointly) also has earned income, is a full-time student, or is disabled.
4. Your filing status is not Married Filing Separately.
5. You have provided the caregiver's social security or tax ID number.
6. You must owe tax

The child and dependent care tax credit is nonrefundable, which means that it cannot reduce your tax any further if it is already zero. 

Most of the time, when customers tell us they are sure that they qualify, it's because they are confident about items #1-#5.  What's likely happened here is that while you've been busy working on your taxes today, you've taken care of number 6 already, and you don't owe any more tax, and that's why you don't qualify!   That's not all bad news, though.  

So you've not done anything wrong here; TurboTax just doesn't deliver that message in the friendliest way (it is only a software program, after all!)  

You can check to be sure that is what is happening by viewing your Tax Summary.   Here is how to do that:

1. Log in to your tax return at TurboTax.com.
2. Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen (you may need to click on Continue in the center first).
3. Click on Tools.
4. In the box that pops up in the center, click on View Tax Summary.

If you see a 0 for Total Tax, then that is the reason you don't qualify for this particular credit.  

[Stewdj4]

Thanks for the feedback. That summary say I have a total tax of $15,836, total paid of $15,650 so I still owe a little more. It seems very clear to me on all 6 elements that I qualify. I’m very convinced it is a system issue. If not fixed, I’ll simply print out the forms and do it myself. I’m a CPA but use TurboTax for ease of preparation and have paid for that privilege for years. This issue might force me to discontinue using TurboTax. 

[CatinaT1]

This is hard to determine without seeing your return, but I will try my best.

• How much did you pay for childcare and for how many children?  
• Are you married or single?  What is your filing status?
• Did BOTH you and your spouse have earned income?
• Do you have anything in Box 10 of any of your W2's?

[Stewdj4]

Okay, I completed the form manually and see that the reason I don’t qualify is it takes the lesser of (1) dependent care costs incurred, (2) my income or (3) my spouses income. My spouse had earned income last year, but $0 this year. So the lowest of those is $0 and the credit is $0. TurboTax got it right, just didn’t tell me why. Bad for me. Good for TurboTax 🙂

[lrw2a]

I am still having issues with this. My husband is permanently and totally disabled and so we should be able to get the credit for the full amount And not have the FSA amount be taxable!. But when I go into TurboTax, it either won’t let me add him in for any reason as a quasi-dependent as Im permitted to do, and it won’t let me update even if I go into the forms on the desktop version. So I don’t know how to get credit for the credit I owed

[Critter-3]

A spouse is never listed as a dependent on the return so what are you trying to do ?   Do you have kids in day care ?   Or is the day care for your spouse ? 

[xmasbaby0]

@lrw2a What do you mean by "quasi - dependent?"   You cannot claim your spouse as a dependent.    Who is receiving daycare?   Are you paying someone to take care of your spouse while you work?

[lrw2a]

Sorry. I wrote that post and I was very frustrated. Yes, I am paying somebody to care for my spouse full-time because he is permanently and totally disabled. Not children. He’s not a dependent, but he should be eligible for us to get the child and dependent care credit. But TurboTax doesn’t seem to have a way to easily capture spouses in this way. I think I gerry-rigged it in the forms on the software last night but I’m not convinced I did it correctly.