Feature Articles
Claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit
Reviewed and adapted with special permission from the IRS by: Andrew Zumwalt, Extension associate, Personal Financial Planning, College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri-Extension
If you paid someone to care for a child under age 13 or
a qualifying spouse or dependent so you could work or
look for work, you may be able to reduce your tax by
claiming the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your
federal income tax return. To qualify, your spouse,
children over the age of 13, and other dependents must
be physically or mentally incapable of self-care.
The credit is a percentage of the amount of work-related child and
dependent care expenses you paid to a care provider. The
credit can be up to 35 percent of your qualifying
expenses, depending upon your income.
For 2007, you may use up to $3,000 of the expenses paid in a year for
one qualifying individual, or $6,000 for two or more
qualifying individuals. These dollar limits must be
reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits
provided by your employer that you exclude from your
income.
To claim the credit for child and dependent care expenses, you must
meet the following conditions:
- Income: You must have earned income from
wages, salaries, tips or other taxable employee
compensation, or net earnings from self-employment
- Payee: The payments for care cannot be
paid to someone you can claim as your dependent on
your return or to your child who is under age 19,
even if they are not your dependents
- Filing Status: Your filing status must be
single, married filing jointly, head of household,
or qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child
- Care: The care must have been provided
for one or more qualifying persons
- Home: The qualifying person must have
lived with you for more than half of 2007
There are some limitations on the amount of
credit you can claim. If you received dependent care
benefits from your employer, other rules apply.
For more information on the Child and Dependent Care Credit, see
Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.
You may download these free publications from
IRS.gov or order them
by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Links:
• Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses
(PDF
167K)
• Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses (PDF)
• Form 2441 Instructions (PDF 32K)
• Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax (PDF 2,075K)
•
Tax Topic 602
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Last update: Thursday, January 17, 2008
