Instructions For Schedule 2 (Form 1040a) 2006
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3Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
2006 Instructions for Schedule 2 (Form 1040A)
If you paid someone to care for your child or other qualifying person so you (and your
Child and
spouse if filing a joint return) could work or look for work in 2006, you may be able to take
the credit for child and dependent care expenses. You (and your spouse if filing a joint
Dependent Care
return) must have earned income to take the credit. (See the instructions for line 5.) If you
can take the credit, use Schedule 2 to figure the amount of your credit.
If you (or your spouse if filing a joint return) received any dependent care benefits for
Expenses for
2006, you must use Schedule 2 to figure the amount, if any, of the benefits you may exclude
from your income on Form 1040A, line 7. You must complete Part III of Schedule 2 before
Form 1040A
you can figure the credit, if any, in Part II.
See Pub. 503 for more details.
Additional information.
Filers
These include amounts paid for household
Qualified expenses.
Definitions
services and care of the qualifying person while you worked or
looked for work. Child support payments are not qualified ex-
Dependent care benefits.
These include amounts your employer
paid directly to either you or your care provider for the care of your
penses. Also, expenses reimbursed by a state social service agency
are not qualified expenses unless you included the reimbursement
qualifying person(s) while you worked. These benefits also include
the fair market value of care in a daycare facility provided or spon-
in your income.
sored by your employer. Your salary may have been reduced to pay
Household services. These are services needed to care for the
for these benefits. If you received dependent care benefits, they
qualifying person as well as to run the home. They include, for
should be shown in box 10 of your 2006 Form(s) W-2.
example, the services of a cook, maid, babysitter, housekeeper, or
cleaning person if the services were partly for the care of the quali-
Qualifying person(s).
A qualifying person is:
•
fying person. Do not include services of a chauffeur or gardener.
A qualifying child under age 13 whom you can claim as a
dependent. If the child turned 13 during the year, the child is a
You can also include your share of the employment taxes paid
qualifying person for the part of the year he or she was under age
on wages for qualifying child and dependent care services.
13.
•
Care of the qualifying person. Care includes the cost of services
Your disabled spouse who is not able to care for himself or
for the qualifying person’s well-being and protection. It does not
herself.
•
include the cost of clothing or entertainment.
Any disabled person not able to care for himself or herself
whom you can claim as a dependent (or could claim as a dependent
You can include the cost of care provided outside your home for
except that the person had gross income of $3,300 or more or filed a
your dependent under age 13 or any other qualifying person who
joint return.)
regularly spends at least 8 hours a day in your home. If the care was
•
Any disabled person not able to care for himself or herself
provided by a dependent care center, the center must meet all appli-
whom you could claim as a dependent except that you (or your
cable state and local regulations. A dependent care center is a place
spouse if filing a joint return), could be claimed as a dependent on
that provides care for more than six persons (other than persons
someone else’s 2006 return.
who live there) and receives a fee, payment, or grant for providing
services for any of those persons, even if the center is not run for
If you are divorced or separated, see Special rule for children of
profit.
divorced or separated parents below.
You can include amounts paid for items other than the care of
To find out who is a qualifying child and who is a dependent, see
your child (such as food and schooling) only if the items are inci-
Pub. 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.
dental to the care of the child and cannot be separated from the total
cost. But do not include the cost of schooling for a child in kinder-
To be a qualifying person, the person must have lived
garten or above. You can include the cost of a day camp, even if it
with you for more than half of 2006. Special rules may
specializes in a particular activity, such as soccer. But, do not in-
apply for people who had to relocate because of Hurri-
clude any expenses for sending your child to an overnight camp.
cane Katrina, Rita, or Wilma. See Pub. 4492 for details.
Medical expenses. Some disabled spouse and dependent care
Special rule for children of divorced or separated parents.
expenses may qualify as medical expenses if you itemize deduc-
Even if you cannot claim your child as a dependent, he or she is
tions. But you must use Form 1040. However, you cannot claim the
treated as your qualifying person if:
•
same expense as both a dependent care expense and a medical ex-
The child was under age 13 or was physically or mentally not
pense. See Pub. 502 and Pub. 503 for details.
able to care for himself or herself, and
•
You were the child’s custodial parent (the parent with whom
the child lived for the greater part of 2006).
Who Can Take the Credit or Exclude
The noncustodial parent cannot treat the child as a qualifying
Dependent Care Benefits?
person even if that parent is entitled to claim the child as a depen-
You can take the credit or the exclusion if all five of the following
dent under the special rules for a child of divorced or separated
apply.
parents.
Sch. 2-1
Cat. No. 30139Y
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