Taxpayer asks:
Taxgirl says:
It sounds like you already know the rules for the Child & Dependent Care Tax Credit. You may be able to claim the credit if you paid expenses for childcare (or dependent care) so that you (and your spouse, if married filing jointly) can work or look for work. The amount of the credit is a percentage of expenses paid for care and is based on your income. You must have earned income from wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation or net earnings from self-employment to claim the credit. Since you’re not working or looking for work, you can’t claim the credit.
As to your bigger question about claiming a charitable deduction, I’m afraid you’re out of luck on that question, too. To qualify for a charitable deduction, money or property must be donated to a qualifying organization. So far, you have that part in the bag. However, contributions must not be set aside for use by a specific person and you can only deduct the amount of your contribution that is more than the value of the benefit you receive (you can read more about quid pro quo here).
In your case, your payment or contribution is equal to the value of the tuition for your child, so there’s no charitable deduction. If the preschool is a qualifying 501(c)(3) organization and you round up or write a check for more than the tuition, that overage may count as a charitable deduction. For example, let’s say the tuition is $2,000 and you write a check for $3,000 and rather than have the overage applied to the next round of tuition, you designate the extra for use in the general fund, the “extra” $1,000 may be a charitable deduction.
Before you go: be sure to read my disclaimer. Remember, I’m a lawyer and we love disclaimers.
If you have a question, here’s how to Ask The Taxgirl.
