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Can You Claim the Credit? — Who Is a Qualifying Person?: Child and Dependent Care Tax Benefits (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Can You Claim the Credit? — Who Is a Qualifying Person?” within child and dependent care tax benefits. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 503 (2025), Child and Dependent Care Expenses, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

To be able to claim the credit for child and dependent care expenses, you must file Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, and meet all the tests in Tests you must meet to claim a credit for child and dependent care expenses next.

Can You Claim the Credit? — Who Is a Qualifying Person?

Your child and dependent care expenses must be for the care of one or more qualifying persons.

A qualifying person is:

  1. Your qualifying child who is your dependent and who was under age 13 when the care was provided (but see Child of divorced or separated parents or parents living apart, later);

  2. Your spouse who wasn't physically or mentally able to care for themselves and lived with you for more than half the year; or

  3. A person who wasn't physically or mentally able to care for themselves, lived with you for more than half the year, and either:

    1. Was your dependent, or

    2. Would have been your dependent except that:

      1. They received gross income of $5,200 or more,

      2. They filed a joint return, or

      3. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2025 return.

Dependent defined.

To be your dependent, a person must be your qualifying child or your qualifying relative. In determining whether you may claim a person as a qualifying relative for 2025, the person's gross income must be less than $5,200.

Qualifying child.

To be your qualifying child, a child must live with you for more than half the year and meet other requirements.

More information.

For more information about who is a dependent or a qualifying child, see Pub. 501.

Physically or mentally not able to care for oneself.

Persons who can't dress, clean, or feed themselves because of physical or mental disabilities are considered not able to care for themselves. Also, persons who must have constant attention to prevent them from injuring themselves or others are considered not able to care for themselves.

Person qualifying for part of year.

You determine a person's qualifying status each day. For example, if your child for whom you pay child and dependent care expenses turns 13 years old and no longer qualifies on September 16, count only those expenses through September 15. Also see Yearly limit under Dollar Limit, later.

Birth or death of otherwise qualifying person.

In determining whether a person is a qualifying person, a person who was born or died in 2025 is treated as having lived with you for more than half of 2025 if your home was the person's home more than half the time they were alive in 2025.

Taxpayer identification number.

You must include on your return the name and taxpayer identification number (generally, the SSN) of the qualifying person(s). If the correct information isn't shown, the credit may be reduced or disallowed.

Individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) for aliens.

If your qualifying person is a nonresident or resident alien who doesn't have and can't get an SSN, use that person's ITIN. The ITIN is entered wherever an SSN is requested on a tax return. If the alien doesn't have an ITIN, they must apply for one. See Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, for details.

An ITIN is for tax use only. It doesn't entitle the holder to social security benefits or change the holder's employment or immigration status under U.S. law.

Caution:

If your ITIN wasn’t included on at least one U.S. federal tax return for the last 3 consecutive tax years, it expires on December 31 of the third consecutive tax year, and must be renewed before being used again on a U.S. federal tax return. See the Instructions for Form W-7 or go to IRS.gov/ITIN for more information.

Adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN).

If your qualifying person is a child who was placed in your home for adoption and for whom you don't have an SSN, you must get an ATIN for the child. File Form W-7A, Application for Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions.

Child of divorced or separated parents or parents living apart.

Even if you can't claim your child as a dependent, they are treated as your qualifying person if:

  • The child was under age 13 or wasn't physically or mentally able to care for themselves;

  • The child received over half of their support during the calendar year from one or both parents who are divorced or legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance, are separated under a written separation agreement, or lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of the calendar year;

  • The child was in the custody of one or both parents for more than half the year; and

  • You were the child's custodial parent.

The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights in 2025. If the child was with each parent for an equal number of nights, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income. For details and an exception for a parent who works at night, see Pub. 501.

The noncustodial parent can't treat the child as a qualifying person even if that parent is entitled to claim the child as a dependent under the special rules for a child of divorced or separated parents.

Figure A. Can You Claim the Credit?

Figure A. Can You Claim the Credit?

Summary: This is a flowchart used to determine if the taxpayer can claim the child and dependent care credit.

Start

Decision (1)

Was the care for one or more qualifying persons?

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (2)
  • IF No Continue To Process (a)

Decision (2)

Did you (see Footnote 1) have earned income during the year?

Footnote 1: This also applies to your spouse, unless your spouse was disabled or a full-time student.

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (3)
  • IF No Continue To Process (a)

Decision (3)

Did you pay the expenses to allow you (see Footnote 1) to work or look for work?

Footnote 1: This also applies to your spouse, unless your spouse was disabled or a full-time student.

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (4)
  • IF No Continue To Process (a)

Decision (4)

Were your payments made to someone you or your spouse could claim as a dependent?

  • IF Yes Continue To Process (a)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (5)

Decision (5)

Were your payments made to your spouse or to the parent of your qualifying person who is your qualifying child and under age 13?

  • IF Yes Continue To Process (a)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (6)

Decision (6)

Were your payments made to your child who was under the age of 19 at the end of the year?

  • IF Yes Continue To Process (a)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (7)

Decision (7)

Are you single?

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (10)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (8)

Decision (8)

Are you filing a joint return?

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (10)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (9)

Decision (9)

Do you meet the requirements to be considered unmarried?

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (10)
  • IF No Continue To Process (a)

Decision (10)

Do you know the care provider's name, address, and identifying number?

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (12)
  • IF No Continue To Decision (11)

Decision (11)

Did you make a reasonable effort to get this information? (See Due diligence.)

  • IF Yes Continue To Decision (12)
  • IF No Continue To Process (a)

Decision (12)

Did you pay expenses for more than one qualifying person?

  • IF Yes Continue To End
  • IF No Continue To Decision (13)

Decision (13)

Are you excluding or deducting at least $3,000 of dependent care benefits?

  • IF Yes Continue to Process (a)
  • IF No Continue to Process (b)

Process (a)

You CAN’T claim the child and dependent care credit. (See Footnote 2.)

Footnote 2: If you had expenses that met the requirements for 2019, except that you didn’t pay them until 2019, you may be able to claim those expenses in 2019. See Expenses not paid until the following year under How To Figure the Credit.

  • Continue To End

Process (b)

You may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit. Fill out Form 2441.

  • Continue To End

End

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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