Fiscal Tax Blog

Are your finances tight with the high cost of daycare? Thankfully, the US government sympathizes enough that they have made them deductible, if you fit certain requirements. Qualifying candidates will have one or more children living with them who are under 13 or disabled, will be working at a paying job, a full-time student, or looking for employment during the time that the children are at day care, and must have some income from wages during the year. Also, the person or service they are paying for caretaking cannot be another dependent of the taxpayer. Also, married couples must both be working during the time the children are in care, and they must file jointly to qualify. If you meet these requirements, then up to 3000 dollars for one child, and up to 6000 dollars for two or more children may be deductible from your taxes.

If you are interested in claiming this credit, you will need several pieces of information, in addition to your regular tax information, for your tax preparer. First, you need the name, address, and EIN number (if they are a business, and not an individual) of your day care or caretaker. Next, you need to know the number of months of the year that you qualified. If you were not working or looking for employment for any part of the year, please let your tax preparer know the amount of time that this was true. Also, if your child turned thirteen during the tax year, then they will be eligible for the credit until their birthday. Third, you will need to know how much money was spent on child care during the tax year.
Deducting Job Search Expenses

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