Child and dependent care tax credit issues

[snw0]

I have been trying to input my "Child and Dependent Care Credit" section of TurboTax Desktop. The system says that I do not qualify for any deduction (or maybe there is an error and it keeps looping through the questions). I know that others have complained about this issue. Here is what is happening: After working on the section "Whose care did you pay for", entering information for my children, being told that my children qualify for tax breaks, and clicking done, TurboTax Desktop takes me back to the "Whose care did you pay for" screen. I can try to edit the entries again, but I keep ending up in the same place. Or, if I click "Continue", TurboTax takes me back to the main screen (without allowing me to input expenses) and says $0. I believe that I qualify, and last year I received a deduction here while using the TurboTax software.

I have noticed that others on the forum have also had similar issues in the past. Previously, others have had trouble because information was input incorrectly or people did not qualify for the deduction. I tried many items that have been recommended to others in these messages, but I have been unable to resolve the issue. Here is what I have tried:

 - Tried deleting the forms and reentering all of the information.

 - Verified eligibility criteria in TurboTax including both my spouse and I have income (which was similar to last year when we qualified), filing married (filing jointly), SSNs are in the system, children are dependents and under 13 and live with us, there is no self-employment, and we make less than $400,000.

 - In addition, although we have a childcare FSA, that amount is less than maximum of $3000 (and $6000 for joint filing).

I would appreciate some help as to why I cannot claim this benefit (or if it is indeed a loop and TurboTax isn't taking into account the information. Thank you so much.

[SwapnaM]

The child and dependent care credit is generally worth 20% to 35% of up to $3,000 (for one qualifying dependent) or $6,000 (for two or more qualifying dependents). This means that the maximum child and dependent care credit is $1,050 for one dependent or $2,100 for two or more dependents. How much of the credit you're eligible for depends on your adjusted gross income , which determines the percentage of qualifying expenses you can deduct. The Child and Dependent Care Credit does get smaller at higher incomes, but it doesn't disappear. 

Based on what you have said, you have tried deleting the form 2441 & other troubleshooting & it does not seem to work.

You can try deleting the dependents, then the form 2441 & related worksheets. Enter the dependents again & go through the Dependent care questions once more. This may let you out of the loop. Hope this helps!

@snw0 Thanks for the question!!

[Opus 17]

If you are using Turbotax online, you may need to contact customer support by phone, they can do a screen share and look at your documents.

If you are using turbotax installed on your own computer, you can click the "Form" button to change to forms mode.  Look for both form 2441, and any separate child care worksheets, and look for items in red.  Also look for any other forms or worksheets with a red (!) next to it. 

[kwallace4]

Just to clarify, you have $5K only you are allowed to contribute tax free to an FSA.  You can then claim another $1K on your tax return for two qualifying children if you spent $6k or more out of pocket.  As Swapna mentioned earlier, the only way to clear the system out completely to try again is to delete the dependents AND the supporting forms.  This is because there is a dependent info worksheet that ties all of this information together.