Child and Dependent Care Credit

The Minnesota child and dependent care credit helps to balance expenses paid to someone who cared for your child (or other qualifying person) while you worked or looked for employment. Certain qualification must be met in order to claim this refundable credit.

Qualifications

You may qualify for the Minnesota child and dependent care credit by meeting all of the federal requirements and the additional state requirements outlined below.

1.      The care must be for one or more qualifying persons.

2.      You (and your spouse if married) must have earned income (see exception under number 7 below).

3.      Qualifying expenses must have been incurred so you (and your spouse if married) could work or look for work (see exception under number 7 below).

4.      You must identify the person or organization that provided the care.

5.      Filing status must be married filing joint, single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er). Taxpayers using the married filing separate filing status do not qualify.

6.      Minnesota only: Household income must be $37,030 or less for the tax year.

7.      You must meet at least one of the following:

·         You paid someone for child or dependent care assistance. If the care giver is your child, that child must not be your dependent, and he or she must be age 19 or older by the end of the year;

·         Minnesota only: You ran a licensed family daycare program and provided care for your child who was younger than age six at the end of the year; or

·         Minnesota only: You had or adopted a child born during the current tax year, were married filing a joint return, and did not participate in a pre-tax dependent care assistance program. You may qualify even if you did not have actual child care expenses or if only one spouse had earned income.

For more information about Minnesota’s Child and Dependent Care Credit, see http://taxes.state.mn.us/individ/pages/credits_subtractions_additions_child_dependent_credit_child_dep_care.aspx