Montana Tax Form 2441-M - Child and Dependant Care Expense Deduction Instructions

General Information FORM 2441-M

Am I eligible to claim the child and dependent care expense deduction?

You are eligible to take this deduction if you maintain a household that includes, as a member of the household, one or more qualifying individuals. A qualified individual is a:

• dependent under the age of 15 for whom you may claim as a dependent on your income tax return; or
• dependent who, regardless of age, is unable to care for himself or herself because of a physical or mental illness; or
• spouse who is unable to care for himself or herself because of a physical or mental illness.

How do I determine if I maintain a household that entitles me to claim this deduction?

You can qualify as maintaining a household for the tax year if you furnish over half the cost of maintaining the household for the tax year. If you are married, both you and your spouse are required to provide over half the cost of maintaining the household.

The cost of maintaining a household includes, but is not limited to, expenses paid for property taxes, property insurance, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, upkeep, repairs, and food consumed on the premises. Expenses do not include such costs as clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance or transportation.

If I care for my own child in my licensed day-care do I qualify for this deduction?

You qualify for this deduction if you are a licensed and registered day-care provider who operates a family day-care home or a group day-care home and care for your own child and at least one unrelated child. The amount of expense that you can claim on line 2 above is an amount equal to the amount you charge for the care of an unrelated child. Your expenses are equal to the expenses that you charge for a child of the same age and for the same number of hours of care regardless of whether you actually paid these expenses for the care of your child or not.

What if the expense qualifies as both an employment-related expense and a medical expense?

You may treat it as either an employment-related expense or a medical expense as long as you do not deduct it twice. If you treat the deduction as a medical expense, the part of that expense that is not deductible because of the 7.5% medical deduction limitation cannot be used as part of your employmentrelated expenses.

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