Taxpayer asks:
My child attends public school. School ends at 3 every day, but I don’t get off of work until 5 so my child attends an after school program. Can I deduct this on my taxes? Does it matter that it’s at public school?
Taxgirl says:
You’re in luck! So long as the child is a qualifying dependent, which for purposes of your scenario means your dependent child under the age of 13 (some other exceptions apply), you can deduct qualifying child care expenses. You claim the expenses as part of the credit for child and dependent care expenses.
You are only entitled to the credit if it was necessary for you to work or local for work AND you must have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation or net earnings from self-employment. Stay at home parents may not claim the credit.
The nonrefundable credit can be up to 35% of your qualifying expenses, depending upon your income, up to a maximum of $3,000 for one child or $6,000 for two or more children. These expenses must be reduced by the amount of any dependent care benefits provided by your employer that you exclude from your income, if any.
It’s also important to note that these costs must be characterized as child care. If your child is staying after school merely for tutoring or another program, that would not qualify. You also can’t include the cost of food, entertainment or other “extras” in the cost of care unless those expenses cannot be easily separated from the total. It also doesn’t matter if it’s private school or public school.
To claim the credit, you need to file a federal form 1040, form 1040A or form 1040NR. You may not use a form 1040-EZ. If you file a federal form 1040 or 1040NR, you’ll also attach a form 2441.
Like any good lawyer, I need to add a disclaimer: Unfortunately, it is impossible to give comprehensive tax advice over the internet, no matter how well researched or written. Before relying on any information given on this site, contact a tax professional to discuss your particular situation.
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One of the most popular questions I see around this time of year is whether you can deduct the cost of:
The short answer is no. These expenses are considered personal expenses and are not deductible for federal income tax purposes for students in elementary and high school (I’ll address college and work-related educational expenses later).
There are some ways to mitigate some of these expenses – like participation in a section 529 plan. Check in later in the day to find out more.
I’m officially back from my *real* vacation. Yeah, it’s true. I actually take vacation once in awhile. And my husband and I have purposefully chosen a spot where there is plenty to do for the kiddos – and no internet connection (gulp).
So, thanks to all of my readers who filled in for me while I was gone. I loved reading your guest posts and it’s clear from the comments that all of you did, too.
This week, we’re back to normal (as it were) – and back to school. Look for my back to school tax series and giveaways in between my dancing a little jig: school is starting!
Earlier this week, I headed off to the store with school supply check list in hand. Boy, how things have changed since I was a kid. Tops on my list? Latex-free erasers. Pencils with latex-free erasers. Pencil sharpener together with Ziploc bag. The list went on and on. Shopping went pretty well until we hit two snafus – one, the question about which four folders to pick: Hannah Montana or Tinkerbell? Remarkably, my daughter went with Tinkerbell – take that Miley Cyrus! The other? The cash register. Jeez, having kids is expensive any more, and back to school season is the mother of all spending.
I’m not sure how much most parents spend on school supplies, but I can tell you that with three kids, one in preschool, one in Pre-K (yes, there’s a list for that) and one in 1st grade, I’m already starting to feel the crunch. School uniforms, backpacks, lunch bags, they all add up. Add in our little surcharge to the state and local governments (in Philadelphia, we pay 7% – thank goodness we’re not Chicago!) and the costs mount.
Fortunately, there are some states that offer a break at this time of year in the form of a sales tax holiday. After the jump, you’ll find a list of states that are observing a sales tax holiday this year – or those that have no sales tax.
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