There are three basic categories of people who may be qualifying persons for purposes of the child or dependent care credit:

• Any child under the age of 13 for whom you can claim a dependency exemption.
• Any dependent, regardless of age, who is disabled. For purposes of this rule only, "dependent" means any disabled dependent who received more than half of his or her total support from you, even if the dependent received more than $3,400 in gross income for the year.
• Your disabled spouse, regardless of age, amount of support, or place of abode.

"Disabled" means having a physical or mental condition that makes the person incapable of dressing, feeding, or cleaning himself or herself. Also, if a person requires constant attention to prevent injury to self or others, the person is considered disabled.

If a person meets the requirements for only part of the year, you can count only the expenses you had during the period he or she was qualified.

Example Lois and Kent Clark enrolled their dependent son, Jimmy, in an after-school program because neither of them arrives home from work before 5:30 in the evening. Jimmy turned 13 on March 15, 2007. When figuring their 2007 tax credit for child care, Lois and Kent can count the cost of the program only through March 14.

Child of separated or divorced parents. Ordinarily, the custodial parent, or the parent who has actual custody of the child for more than half of the year, is the parent who can claim the child as a "qualifying person." This is true even if the other parent is entitled to the child's dependency exemption under the divorce decree. This rule applies if you are legally divorced or separated, or if you've lived apart from your spouse for all of the last six months of the year.

Social security number required. You will need to report the Social Security number of your qualifying persons (up to two) on Form 2441 or on Schedule 2 of Form 1040A.