Under child & dependent care it is not allowing me to enter our child care expenses. It indicates we had to be disabled or students. Why? We worked.

[amybennecoffgins]

Under child and dependent care credit it indicates that you qualify if you paid someone to care for your child while you work. But then when I try to enter the information it doesn't allow me and says we don't qualify because we weren't disabled or students. I thought I entered this in prior years?"

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

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 2016 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.

*You can see the amount of the childcare credit you received on line 31 of your 1040A, or on line 49 of your 1040.