Use only your income in figuring the earned income limit. Community property laws. You should disregard community property laws when you figure earned income for this credit. Student-spouse or spouse not able to care for self. Your spouse who is either a full-time student or not able to care for himself or herself is treated as having earned income.
Spouse qualifies for part of month.
Both spouses qualify. There is a dollar limit on the amount of your work-related expenses you can use to figure the credit. The dollar limit is a yearly limit. The amount of the dollar limit remains the same no matter how long, during the year, you have a qualifying person in your household. If you received dependent care benefits from your employer that you exclude from your income, you must subtract that amount from the dollar limit that applies to you.