Question

Why is the site not letting me enter how much I paid in dependent care for the credit?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
February 20, 2025
1 reply
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Whenever I click "Add/Edit" for the dependent care credit in deductions & credits, it asks me a couple of questions "Did I live apart from [my former spouse] July through December?", "Did I pay for more than half of the cost of running my household?", and "Did the person whose care I paid for live with me for more than half the year?" and once I answer these, it circles me back to the main deductions & credits page without giving me the option to input how much I paid in dependent care. If it matters, I am filing as "married filing separately" from my ex-husband (who I WAS still married to on 12/31/24).

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ThomasM125

You would seem to qualify for the credit even though you are filing married-separate, but it also seems you may qualify to file as head of household as well and that may be more beneficial to you. It would also likely give you the dependent care credit. For that, you would have to pay more than half the upkeep of your home, you would have to live apart from your spouse during the last six months of the year, and provide the main home for your child form whom you provide over 1/2 of their support. You can learn more from this IRS article :

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L

littleladzinskiAuthor

My spouse DID live with me through the end of 2024 so I cannot file as head of household. The marriage legally ended the first week of January and we began living separately on the same day it was finalized.

CatinaT1

You can not claim the Dependent Care Credit if you are Married Filing Separately. See this link from the IRS: Topic no. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit - IRS

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