Question

If i have earned income why do i not get the childcare tax credit (the daycare on, not the child tax credit)?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
March 30, 2025
2 replies
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Do you have income on a W-2 or is it self-employment income? If you have self-employment income but show a loss you will not be able to get the childcare credit. Or if you file MFS you cannot get the childcare credit.

You have to enter your W-2 or self-employment income before you try to work on the childcare credit.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

J

JamesG1

The software may not have enough information to qualify the dependent as a qualifying child.

The credit depends upon other information that has been entered into the tax return. The software may be looking for other pieces of information to have already been entered before it will approve you for the credit. Perhaps income information or dependent information has not yet been completely entered.

If you are filing a married filing jointly tax return, each taxpayer must report earned income. Make sure that W-2’s are correctly marked for each spouse.

To be able to claim the credit for child and dependent care expenses, you must meet all the following tests.

Qualifying Person Test. The care must be for one or more qualifying persons who are identified on Form 2441.
Earned Income Test. You (and your spouse if filing jointly) must have earned income during the year.
Work-Related Expense Test. You must pay child and dependent care expenses so you (and your spouse if filing jointly) can work or look for work.
You must make payments for child and dependent care to someone you (and your spouse) can't claim as a dependent. If you make payments to your child (including stepchild or foster child), he or she can't be your dependent and must be age 19 or older by the end of the year. You can't make payments to:
1. Your spouse, or
2. The parent of your qualifying person if your qualifying person is your child and under age 13.
Joint Return Test. Your filing status may be single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse. If you are married, you must file a joint return, unless an exception applies to you..
Provider Identification Test. You must identify the care provider on your tax return.

Are you filing a married filing jointly tax return? If so, each taxpayer must report earned income. To check what has been entered in the program:

Go to Federal / Wages & Salaries / Job (W-2).
Click Edit / Add to the right.
At the screen W-2 Summary, the summary will show the name for each W-2 as it was entered.

IRS Publication 503 page 4 states:

You Must Have Earned Income

To claim the credit, you (and your spouse if filing jointly) must have earned income during the year.

@akohtz33

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N

newage24

we meet all the requirements. i have everything filled out completely. it would not let me type in the darecare information as it said we did not qualify. i have even gone through the whole process again to be sure everything is correct

VolvoGirl

Are you married filing Joint? Both of you need to have earned income.

N

newage24

yes and we both have income

SusanY1

I would like to take a deeper look at this. However, I need a diagnostic file which is a copy of your tax return that has all of your personal information removed. You can send one to us by following the directions below:

TurboTax Online:

Sign into your online account.
Locate the Tax Tools on the left-hand side of the screen.
A drop-down will appear. Select Tools
On the pop-up screen, click on “Share my file with agent.”
This will generate a message that a diagnostic file gets sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number that was generated in the response. (A screenshot works best.)

TurboTax Desktop/Download Versions:

Open your return.
Click the Online tab in the black bar across the top of TurboTax and select “Send Tax File to Agent” *
This will generate a message that a diagnostic copy will be created. Click on OK and the tax file will be sanitized and transmitted to us.
Please provide the Token Number (including the dash) that was generated in the response. (A screenshot works best)

*(If using a MAC, go to the menu at the top of the screen, select Help, then, “Send Tax File to Agent”)

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