The amount of child care expenses you can take (or have on your Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement) is limited to the lower of your (or your spouse's, if applicable) earned income.

Per IRS Publication 503 Child and Dependent Care Expenses, page 11:

Earned Income Limit

The amount of work-related expenses you use to figure your credit can't be more than:

1. Your earned income for the year if you are single at the end of the year, or
2. The smaller of your or your spouse's earned income for the year if you are married at the end of the year.

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Rule for student-spouse or spouse not able to care for self. Your spouse is treated as having earned income for any month that he or she is:

1. A full-time student, or
2. Physically or mentally not able to care for himself or herself. (Your spouse also must live with you for more than half the year.)

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You or your spouse is a student or not able to care for self. Your spouse who is either a full-time student or not able to care for himself or herself is treated as having earned income. His or her earned income for each month is considered to be at least $250 if there is one qualifying person in your home, or at least $500 if there are two or more.

Spouse works. If your spouse works during that month, use the higher of $250 (or $500) or his or her actual earned income for that month.

Spouse qualifies for part of month. If your spouse is a full-time student or not able to care for himself or herself for only part of a month, the full $250 (or $500) still applies for that month.

You are a student or not able to care for yourself. These rules also apply if you are a student or not able to care for yourself and are filing a joint return. For each month or part of a month you are a student or not able to care for yourself, your earned income is considered to be at least $250 (or $500). If you also work during that month, use the higher of $250 (or $500) or your actual earned income for that month.

Both spouses qualify. If, in the same month, both you and your spouse are either full-time students or not able to care for yourselves, only one spouse can be considered to have this earned income of $250 (or $500) for that month.

To enter the amounts in the TaxAct program (if you need help accessing Form 2441, go to our Form 2441 - Entering Child and Dependent Care Expenses in Program FAQ):

1. From within your Form 2441, continue with the interview process until you reach the screen titled Can you enter an earned income adjustment?, if one of the spouses does not have income on the return, then click Yes to enter the income adjustment for a disabled taxpayer or spouse. Click the information icon on the screen for details on the amount to enter. An amount must be entered for the disabled spouse or per IRS instructions, the credit will not calculate.
2. On the screen titled How much did you spend for each dependent's care?, enter or review the dependents. The spouse should be listed here if the following steps have been completed so you can enter the expense amount.

This will transfer to Lines 4 and/or 5 of Form 2441 Child and Dependent Care Expenses. If you have expenses to claim on Form 2441 for a disabled spouse, you would enter them as a nondependent qualifying person for EIC and/or dependent care credit in the dependent section of the return so you are able to enter qualifying expenses for them.

To enter your spouse as a nondependent qualifying person, go to our Dependents - Entering Type Information in Program FAQ.

This will NOT list them as a dependent on the tax return. However, this will allow entry in the Child and Dependent Care section of the program. Note the spouse must also have Permanently and totally disabled during 2022 checked in the Basic Information section (or on page 1 of Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return) in order to be eligible to claim expenses for them on Form 2441 along with the disabled box in the dependent section.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the webpage or document at the time it is accessed.