Who is eligible for the Minnesota Child and Dependent Care Credit?

Child and Dependent Care Credit (Schedule M1CD)

Am I eligible?

If you (and your spouse if filing a joint return) received earned income, you may be eligible for a credit based on your qualified expenses. You must have documentation showing the expenses you paid for one or both of the following:

• Someone to care for your child or other qualifying person

• Someone for household services To qualify for the credit, all of the following must be true:

• Your filing status may be single, head of household, qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, or married filing jointly.

• The care was provided so you (and your spouse if filing jointly) could work or look for work. However, if you didn’t find a job and have no earned income for the year, you cannot take the credit.

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

• The person who provided the care was not your spouse, the parent of your qualifying child, or a person whom you can claim as a dependent. If your child provided the care, he or she must have been age 19 or older by the end of 2021, and he or she cannot be your dependent.

• You report the required information about the care provider and the information about the qualifying person in Table 1 and Table 2.

The Minnesota credit is refundable, meaning you may benefit even if you have no state tax liability. This is different from the federal credit, which you can only use to offset tax.

If you are a part-year or nonresident, you may be eligible for this credit based on your percentage of earned income taxable to Minnesota.

Before you complete this schedule, complete federal Form 2441 even if you did not claim the federal credit.