Child and dependent care credit. Three limits apply and the smallest binds: the expense cap, the lower-earning spouse's income, and any dependent care FSA already used.
Also called: child care credit, form 2441 calculator.
$1,200.00 of credit, 20% of $6,000.00 of eligible expenses. Your 9,000 of spending is capped at $6,000.00 for 2 dependents. No FSA used, so the full capped amount is eligible.
Computed from the published rates for the tax year you selected, which is not necessarily the current year. A calculation, not tax advice, and it does not know anything about your circumstances beyond the figures entered.
This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.
Eligible expenses are capped at a fixed amount that does not scale beyond two dependents, so a third child adds nothing. They are further limited to the earned income of the lower-earning spouse, which is why a non-working spouse generally eliminates the credit. Money run through a dependent care FSA reduces the eligible expenses dollar for dollar, since the same spending cannot get both benefits. The credit rate falls as income rises to a floor.
three separate limits apply, and the smallest bindsEach of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.
Dependent care credit$1,200.00
20% of the capped 6,000
Open this exampleDependent care credit$0.00
boundary: the earned income limit binds
Open this exampleDependent care credit$0.00
degenerate case
Open this exampleFormula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator