If you had a child born during the tax year and are filing a joint Minnesota income tax return, you may be eligible to claim a Newborn Child Care Credit even if you did not pay any child care expenses.

You do not need to qualify for the Federal Child & Dependent Care Credit to qualify for the Minnesota credit. You may still qualify even if:

• One spouse does not have earned income
• The couple did not incur child care expenses

To claim this Newborn Child Care Credit in TaxAct^®:

1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click State, then click Minnesota (or MN). On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click State.
2. Click Credits in the Minnesota Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, click Refundable credits to expand, then click New born child care credit.
3. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
4. On the screen titled Minnesota – Child Care Expenses: Dependent Information 1- 5, enter “3000” as the Qualified expenses for the newborn per the instructions on the screen, then click Continue.