Yes. What can NOT happen is your ex claiming child care expenses. There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents.
Can a spouse claim more than their earned income for child care?
You cannot claim more than your earned income or your spouse’s earned income, whichever is less. So if you or your spouse is not working, you cannot use any of the money in the dependent care account. Here’s an example of how this works. Let’s say you contribute $5,000 to a dependent care account for your child.
How to claim credit for child and dependent care expenses?
To be able to claim the credit for child and dependent care expenses, you must file Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, and meet all the tests in Tests you must meet to claim a credit for child and dependent care expenses next.
What do I need to claim for child care?
To claim child care expenses you need to have an eligible dependent child. Also, you need to have purchased child care services for that child. If you’re confused by those terms, never fear, as we’ll explain them in the sections below. In the meantime, let’s talk about who can claim child care expenses.
Can a custodial parent claim the child care credit?
To claim the child care credit, Federal Tax law, requires that the child must live with the parent *more* than half the tax year (more the 183 nights). Only the parent that lived with the child more than half the year (custodial parent) can claim the child care credit.
Can a non-custodial parent claim a day care exemption?
The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner. Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child , even when the custodial parent has released the exemption to him.
Can a parent claim half of a child’s day care?
If you and the other parent live together, than you do have to be the parent claiming the child as a dependent, to get the day care credit. For tax purposes, there is no such thing as joint custody, regardless of what your legal agreement says. The requirement, to be custodial parent, is that the child live with you MORE than 50% of the time.
