You do not qualify for the head of household filing status because you and your spouse have not lived apart for the last 6 months of the taxable year and are not considered unmarried. Your filing status for the year will either be married filing separately, or married filing jointly. If it is married filing separately, you will not qualify for the Earned Income Credit and cannot claim a credit based on child care expenses. If you file a joint return with your spouse, you may be eligible to claim these credits. See Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses and Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.

References:

• Tax Topic 353, What is Your Filing Status?
• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses
• Publication 596, Earned Income Credit

The expenses for kindergarten do not qualify for the child and dependent care credit because kindergarten is primarily educational in nature. However, the part of the expenses of sending your child to school that is for your child's care may qualify for the credit, if it can be separated from the expenses of education. For example, the cost of an after school care program may qualify, even though the school tuition does not qualify. For more information refer to Tax Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit, or Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.

The actual mechanism for this type of plan is an agreement to voluntarily reduce your salary in return for an employer-provided fringe benefit. These plans give you a choice of whether to receive cash wages or a benefit for dependent care. You are receiving a tax benefit because you are not paying taxes on the money that is set aside to pay for the dependent care. For more information refer to Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax, Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, or Tax Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit.

You must complete Part III of Form 2441 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses, (or Form 1040A, Schedule 2 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers) to exclude the dependent care benefits from income even if you cannot claim the child and dependent care credit. Enter your total employer-provided dependent care benefits on the correct line (this amount should appear in Box 10 of your Form W-2) and your qualified expenses on the correct line. The last lines of Part III will determine whether you can also take the credit and the dollar limit on qualified expenses. Also complete Part I, Persons or Organizations Who Provided the Care. For more information, refer to the instructions for Form 2441 (PDF) Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, or Tax Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit.

Yes, if you meet the other requirements to claim the child and dependent care credit, but are missing the social security number or other taxpayer identification required ID number of a provider, you can still claim the credit by demonstrating "due diligence" in attempting to secure this information.

If a provider of child care refuses to give the identifying information, the taxpayer can still claim the credit however, the taxpayer must provide whatever information is available about the provider (such as name and address) on the form used to claim the credit Form 2441 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses, or Form 1040A, Schedule 2 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses for Form 1040A Filers). The taxpayer should write "see page 2" in the columns requesting the missing information. The taxpayer should write at the bottom of page 2 that the provider refused to give the requested information. This statement will show that the taxpayer used due diligence in trying to secure and furnish the identifying information.

For more information refer to Form W-10 (PDF), Dependent Care Provider's Identification and Certification, the instruction for Form 2441 (PDF), Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expense, or Tax Topic 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit.

These payments may be have qualified child care expenses if the family member baby-sitting is not your dependent or your child under age 19 and you otherwise qualify to claim the child and dependent care credit. For more information, refer to Form 2441 (PDF) , Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Publication 503 , Child and Dependent Care Expenses, or Tax Topic 602 , Child and Dependent Care Credit.

Who is responsible for taxes on these payments depends on whether your family member is your employee or is self-employed (an independent contractor). See Publication 15-A (PDF) , Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, for a discussion of how to tell whether an individual who is performing services for you is an employee or an independent contractor. If your family member is not your employee, then the family member will be responsible for paying income taxes and self-employment taxes on the income earned. If your family member is your employee, then you are generally responsible for withholding and paying the taxes. However, special rules apply to family employees. See Publication 15 , Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide, for these rules.

Generally, you can claim both the child tax credit and the child and dependent care credit on the same return if you qualify for both credits. If you qualify for one or both credits, you can claim the credits on Form 1040 (PDF), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, or Form 1040A (PDF), U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Please refer to "Child tax credit" in the index to the instructions for Form 1040 Instructions or the Form 1040A Instructions . The referenced pages will explain who qualifies for the child tax credit, and how to calculate it. Refer also to Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax,Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Tax Topic 602 Child and Dependent Care Credit and Tax Topic 606, Child Tax Credit.

References:

• Form 1040 Instructions
• Form 1040A Instructions
• Tax Topic 606, Child Tax Credit