Dependent Care

[kobe22]

Wife is disabled and unable to care for herself.  A provider is paid for their care providing services. How do you report this on Form 2441 to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit?

[TaxGuyBill]

Open the 2441.

Between lines 1 and 2 there is a worksheet that has a spot to enter the cost  (line "A").

Between lines 4 and 5 there is a worksheet that you can fill out because the spouse is disabled.

[Skylane]

Think you're barking up the wrong tree.  Form 2441 is generally for kids in daycare, nursery school, etc....under age 13 unless disabled.

Sounds more like you're talking about  a home health aide type situation.  If so, they can get pretty expensive very quickly. They should be paid as a household employee (think Sch H). If medically required (required by MD) there may be a deduction on Sch A. 

[kobe22]

Thank you @TaxGuyBill I have tried this and nothing happens.

However, in Part II I tried to override the Qualifying person's name to add the wife and it calculates the credit. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[TaxGuyBill · Accepted solution]

Yes, you need to enter the Qualifying Person's name.  ProSeries is not set up to automatically put a spouse there, so you will need to override (to e-file, you may need to file from Homebase and disable error-checking).

[sjrcpa]

A married person can claim the credit for costs incurred to care for their disabled (dependent) spouse that enable the nondisabled spouse to work.

[Terry53029]

From the 2441 instructions: I put number 2 in bold.

Qualifying Person(s)

A qualifying person is any of the following.

1. A qualifying child under age 13 whom you can claim as a dependent. If the child turned 13 during the year, the child is a qualifying person for the part of the year he or she was under age 13.

2. Your disabled spouse who wasn't physically or mentally able to care for himself or herself.

3. Any disabled person who wasn't physically or mentally able to care for himself or herself whom you can claim as a dependent or could claim as a dependent except:

   1. The disabled person had gross income of $4,300 or more,

   2. The disabled person filed a joint return, or

   3. You (or your spouse if filing jointly) could be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's 2021 return.