Mother helping daughter with homework | Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury/Getty Images

Juggling parenthood and work is a major challenge that gets bigger when school’s out for the summer. Working moms and dads must find child care for full days, not just the hours after classes.

The IRS can’t help you find a summertime day care provider, but it can help pay some of the costs, thanks to the child and dependent care tax credit.

And day camp, a popular summer activity, can count toward that tax credit claim.

The tax break’s name offers 2 important pieces of information. First, since it’s a credit, it offers dollar-for-dollar tax savings. Second, it can be used to pay for care costs of other dependents, such as an aging parent.

But, as with most tax provisions, there are limits — on what you spend, as well as how much you earn — that reduce the actual amount of the credit. Plus, you must make sure you and the person being cared for meet IRS eligibility guidelines.


Care services eligible for credit

  • Private home nurses.
  • Licensed dependent-care centers.
  • Nursery school and kindergarten costs: In these cases, if the costs of school are separate from child-care expenses, only the child-care portion qualifies.
  • Household help, as long as the services are necessary for the well-being and protection of the qualifying individual.

Actual care cost limits

The first thing to keep in mind is that the credit probably will not pay for all of your child-care costs. The IRS limits the dollar amount you can claim and you only get to count a percentage of that amount.

You can claim only up to $3,000 for the care of 1 person and $6,000 for 2 or more. Then this amount is further reduced based on your overall income (more on this later).

There is some good news, however. If you paid someone to watch over your 2 (or more) kids, you can combine all your care costs to reach the $6,000 limit.

For instance, the parents of Janie and Jimmy could count the $2,800 for Janie’s care and $3,200 for Jimmy’s in order to claim a total of $6,000, instead of only $5,800 by adding $2,800 plus $3,000. By using the total amount rather than splitting the actual costs and then applying the limits and figuring the credit, they’ll get a larger tax break.

Percentage restrictions


So, regardless of how much you pay, the potential maximum child- and dependent-care credit is $1,050 (35% of $3,000) for the care of 1 person, twice that for 2 or more. Depending upon your income, the percentage range drops from 35% to 20% of your allowable care costs.


And even if your care costs come up to the maximum credit amount, you may not get it all if your tax bill is less than your allowable credit. The dependent-care credit is not refundable, meaning it can only take your tax bill to zero. Any excess credit is not usable.

For example, if you claim a $1,050 maximum credit for the care of one child and owe $750, the IRS will use your credit to wipe out your tax bill, but you won’t get the extra $300 as a refund.

Defining dependents


The youngster must be younger than 13. He or she also must meet IRS’ dependent requirements. Basically, this means the child must be related to you and live with you most of the time. There are exceptions in the cases of divorced or separated parents, so read the tax-filing instructions carefully or consult your tax adviser if this is your situation.

But the child- and dependent-care credit is not limited to child-care costs. It also can be claimed when you pay for care of other dependents, as they are deemed qualified by the IRS. For example, if you pay someone to look after your spouse or a dependent of any age who is incapacitated because of physical or mental limitations, you might be eligible for this tax break.

Only working taxpayers need apply

Then there’s the credit’s job catch. You can only claim dependent care that was necessary so that you could go to or look for work.




To claim child- and dependent-care credit, complete and attach Form 2441 to your return. You must file taxes using either Form 1040 or Form 1040A to claim the credit.

Identify your caregivers


If it’s a business, the operator can provide you with the employer identification number. You also can use Form W-10, Dependent Care Provider’s Identification and Certification, to request this information from the care provider. For individual providers, you generally use the person’s Social Security number.

You might have some additional filing duties related to this credit depending on whom you hire and how you cover the costs.


And while you feel most comfortable when a member of your family is taking care of your children, you cannot claim the credit if the caregiver is your spouse or, as mentioned, one of your teenage children.

Company benefit considerations

Finally, if you received any dependent-care benefits from your employer during the year, you will have to complete Part III of Form 2441 to determine the amount of your credit. These amounts are listed in box 10 of your W-2.

Company benefits include money you receive directly from your employer or that was paid by your employer to your care provider. The fair market value of a company-provided day care facility also counts, as does money you put into a dependent-care flexible spending account, or FSA, to pay care expenses.

For example, if your company provides untaxed dependent-care benefits directly to you, those amounts reduce the amount of expenses you can claim. If the company pays you $1,000 for child-care costs, you must reduce your credit amount by that payment, so a $3,000 limit now becomes $2,000 to offset the company payments.

In the case of a spending account, if you paid $10,000 for a nursery school to look after your 2 children while you were at work, $6,000 is the maximum allowable credit amount. But you used $5,000 from your workplace FSA to pay part of those costs, so the account money will reduce how much you can claim toward the child care credit — the $6,000 maximum care expense amount is cut to $1,000.

In both of these instances, because the workplace child-care assistance is not taxable income to you, you cannot use those amounts to help further cut your tax bill.


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