Are you required to claim a credit ?

[Confused20]

I wasn’t aware that relatives could be counted for childcare costs. Anyway I did NOT keep track of how much money I paid my mother last year IF any for babysitting. I’d already planned on NOT taking the dependent care credit anyway since it’s not often I pay for babysitting. When it asked did I pay fees I said no. Am I within my right to opt out of that credit ? Also I know now that relatives can be paid ... but what if the relative didn’t report it on THEIr taxes .. again am I required to for next year put them down for childcare services ? At this point I’ve only paid $40 this year 

[NCperson]

that is the issue....if you pay your relative and claim that expense, the IRS is going to expect that the relative declare that as income.  You will need to furnish the IRS the relatives name, address, SS#, etc, so the IRS will clearly know what is going on.

[Mike9241]

there is no requirement to claim the credit.  to take the credit you would have to report on form 2441 your mother's name, SSN, address and amount paid. in theory, the IRS would perform a cross-check to see that your mother reported the income.  to claim the credit you would likely have to upgrade which could cost you more in TT fees than you save in taxes.