Credit for child and Dependent Care Expenses

[Smiley8485]

What is the name of your state? Illinois

My husband and I are choosing to file our federal tax returns as "married but filing separately" this year. However, I'm a little confused on the wording of the tax code about the Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses. My husband has one son from a previous relationship. According to my husband's custody agreement, he is able to take the credit for the amount he pays for daycare. We have always done this when we were filing jointly.

I noticed that you can not take the credit if you are "married filing separately." However, there were some exceptions to the rule that I was a little unclear about. There were a number of situations that were listed where he could still take the credit that discuss whether he lives with his spouse, etc. I am assuming that it is still meaning whether he lives with me (and not the child's mother). If that is the case, I'm assuming that we can not take the credit but I just wanted to make sure I'm reading this correctly.

Just for clearity, my husband and I are living together, etc. We are simply taking the "filing separately" approach because it causes our tax liability to be lower (even without the child care credit).

Thanks!

[tdavidl]

based on your description you are correct, you cannot claim the credit if you file separately. since you lived together for the year, you can only claim the credit IF you file jointly.