• Expenses for babysitting services qualify for the child tax care credit.Stanislav Solntsev/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Qualification to claim the Kentucky Child and Dependent Care Credit on state income tax requires meeting federal requirements. When filing Kentucky state income tax forms, the credit as reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on federal tax Form 2441 should be written directly onto the Kentucky tax form where indicated, multiplied by 20 percent and the result entered as the Kentucky credit. The Kentucky Department of Revenue requires no additional qualifications to claim the tax credit.
  
  

Dependent Qualifications

• In order for a U.S., and thus Kentucky taxpayer to claim the credit for expenses incurred for the care of a child, the IRS stipulates that the child must be under age 13 or disabled. The spouse of the taxpayer may be claimed on Form 2441 as a dependent if he or she is disabled and the taxpayer must pay someone to provide care. Federal regulations also include any disabled dependent if that person would normally be claimed as a dependent regardless of disability.
  
  

Taxpayer Qualifications

• A taxpayer must earn income during the tax year to be eligible to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit. Federal regulations specifically state that in order to claim the tax credit for a child or other dependent, the expenses must be necessary in order for the taxpayer to work or actively look for work. In other words, care provided while the taxpayer pursues leisure activities cannot be claimed as a qualifying expense. In addition, the taxpayer cannot pay the cost of care to another dependent or their underage child.
  
  

Residence Requirements

• In order to claim the federal and Kentucky credits, the taxpayer must pay more than one-half of the household expenses for a residence that is also the home in which the dependent resides. Additionally, a qualifying child must live with the taxpayer more than half of the tax year to be considered a dependent under IRS regulations. All things being equal, in the event of support from two divorced parents, the custodial parent claims the child for this tax credit.
  
  

Qualifying Expenses

• Qualifying expenses when figuring the credit include the cost of day care, both for dependent children and adults. In-home caretaker salaries qualify as an expense on the credit, but not the cost of transportation for the caretaker to travel to and from the home. Expenses incurred from babysitter services qualify, as do domestic services, such as those provided by cooks and housekeepers, if the services in part benefit the dependent person. Costs related to overnight stays away from the residence, as well as normal everyday living costs such as food and clothing do not qualify under tax code regulations as expenses included on the child and dependent care credit.