Can I qualify for both the ‘Child and Dependent Care Credit’ AND the ‘Child and Other Dependent Care Tax Credit’?

[kpalombus]

We know we are at the max ($6k) for the ‘Child and Other Dependent Care Tax Credit’. But I thought TurboTax would ask us how much we paid in dependent care for the ‘Child and Dependent Care Credit’, but TurboTax is telling us we don’t qualify. I thought we would for sure because my spouse and I both worked and we are under the $400k annual income limit. We also had our children live with us all year and spent over $10k on childcare in 2022. 

Can I not qualify for both the 'Child and Dependent Care Credit' AND the ‘Child and Other Dependent Care Tax Credit’? The IRS's website says we can, but TurboTax is not letting us claim both.

Is the max credit I can get for children (despite the cost of their care) $6k?

[Bsch4477]

You are confusing 2 credits. There is no Child and other dependent care credit. But there is a credit for other dependents who do not qualify for child tax credit. They are often children over age 17 (23 if a full time student). 

Then there is the credit you are interested in—the credit for child and dependent care. If you have a FSA you get credit for $6,000 of expenses. No additional expenses are deductible. If no FSA your expenses are limited to $3,000 ($6,000 for 2 or more children).  Note that you don’t get a $6,000 credit for $6,000 of expenses.  Your credit is calculated on the basis of that expense. 

[DawnC]

I am assuming you are getting a $6000 Child Tax Credit (CTC) for having 3 qualifying child dependents.  The max CTC is $2K per dependent.   That credit is different from the Child and Dependent Care Credit (CDCC) which is for childcare expenses.  You can get both of those credits if you had childcare expenses for a qualifying child.   The max CDCC is $2,100 (35% of $6K). 

Go back through the Child and Dependent Care Credit section and make sure you have entered all of your expenses and information from each of your care providers; you have to provide either an EIN or SSN for each care provider.   Check birthdates entered in the Personal Info section; they have to be 12 or younger.   Also, the Dependent Care Credit is nonrefundable, meaning you have to have a tax liability to benefit from it.    Also make sure you have earned income applied to both of you - sometimes both w-2s get entered under the same person which makes TurboTax think only one of you worked.  

The Ins and Outs of the Dependent Care Credit - See the important Other Requirements at the bottom.