I tried claiming my middle daughter as a dependent, but it made no difference on my tax return. My wife and I separated last year.

[zeppelin71]

In the deductions summary page for my dependents it read $0 all the way down the columns.

[TurboTaxJeffrey]

Did your daughter live with you after the separation?

[zeppelin71]

Yes. I started a brand new account and TurboTax finally stopped asking about my ex's income etc etc and granted me the deduction for my daughter. Something's buggy about switching from married to separated when using a TurboTax account with a previous tax year in it.

[TurboTaxJeffrey · Accepted solution]

Great.  The reason the software asks is that based on your wife's income for the part of the year you were together, you may have been able to claim a portion of the spousal credit.  That can be taken care of the initial questions in the profile section.  However in your case you are also able to claim the eligible dependant credit.  You are only allowed to claim one or the other, either the spousal credit, OR the eligible dependant credit.  In most circumstances the eligible dependant credit is more advantageous.

On another note, have you advised CRA of the date of the change in marital status?  As you may be entitled to an increase of the Canada Child Benefit.  If you haven't, you may wish to complete an RC65 for CRA, so that benefits may be allocated properly.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/rc65/README.html