https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:14:51 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1721104 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:55:08 +0000 MamaG 1721104@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: Actually, I believe after working through the form that you can do both (sort of). If you have two or more dependents which would be $6,000 and you do the $5,000 dependent care FSA you would be eligible potentially for $1,000 credit. </p> <p>But, yes this is certainly different than having $6,000 allowed in a dependent care FSA. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1721084 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:49:03 +0000 matador84 1721084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: Amen. I wish it were more...I guess the people writing tax code at the IRS don't have a clue how much child care costs!! @Mrs. High Heels: It makes me sick when I look at how much we pay in child care a year. Nonetheless, it still doesn't make financial sense for us to lose my income and stay home.@lawbee11: this is (obviously) my first time contributing to a DCA...my dad was adamant that we do it for the money back in our pocket. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1721070 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:43:57 +0000 lawbee11 1721070@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: My company's enrollment period already ended, but I'm going to sign up in Decemeber for next year. I found an online calculator and we'd save $1600/year! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1721005 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:24:06 +0000 autumnlove 1721005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH has one set up for daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720967 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:13:38 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1720967@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: @Smurfette: So I talked to DH, and actually we're just doing the dependent care through his work not mine like I thought.</p> <p>I wish they would not only raise the limit, but do something like $5k PER CHILD, rather than just $5k total. Or do a percentage of daycare costs instead of a flat $5k since daycare costs vary so much across the country. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720956 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:10:12 +0000 kayakgirl73 1720956@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I wish they wouls raise the limit. We pay over a 1000 dollars a month for one child and our daycare is priced on the lower side in our area. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720948 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 12:02:52 +0000 sunny 1720948@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: @Smurfette: us too! Daycare is expensive in our area and we go through $5000 in 3.5 months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720927 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:55:09 +0000 Smurfette 1720927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@littlek: yeah we blow through ours pretty fast at $1520 a month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720925 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:52:59 +0000 littlek 1720925@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: When we get our reimbursement it's like a nice little bonus. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720920 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:52:18 +0000 littlek 1720920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do $5k which is the max per family. It doesn't matter how many children you have. It's really disappointing that it's only $5k considering we spend $2k a month on daycare for 1 child. :bummed: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720913 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:50:05 +0000 Smurfette 1720913@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Stacy: I think I am going to do this next year! That $5K will be nice to get </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720903 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 11:47:22 +0000 Canoli 1720903@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, this year I waited to get reimbursement until the end of the year so we'll get a $5,000 check. We plan to do this every year to put towards a vacation or something else. Thankfully we are in a financial situation that we can afford to do this. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720302 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:30:47 +0000 LuLu Mom 1720302@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes! I get $96 taken out of my check every Friday (I get paid weekly.) for me, I usually only take it out every couple months once it builds up. We are actually planning on not touching it until December, to use it (fingers crossed) if I get pregnant soon and have a baby next spring. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720293 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:28:58 +0000 matador84 1720293@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: ahh! That helps explain a lot. Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720286 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:27:39 +0000 Alivoo01 1720286@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do and I do think it's kind of a pain because you can't withdraw the money until you put it in there first. We pay DS's tuition monthly, so for January and February, we had to "double" pay because we had to pay daycare out of pocket up front since the balance was $0. By the end of January, I still didn't have enough the account to cover January's tuition to be reimbursed so I had to wait till Feb. 15th paycheck. By then, I've already paid daycare twice. When I withrdaw the money, the account goes down below monthly tuition and I have to wait awhile for it to replenish. Rinse and repeat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720284 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:27:21 +0000 matador84 1720284@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <br /> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720241 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:09:27 +0000 yoursilverlining 1720241@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: That's for the childcare expenses tax credit on your taxes. That's different from a dependent care account, which is a type of flexible spending account. The IRS limit is $5,000 per year, regardless of # of children for the dependent care account. You can take either the tax credit, or use the dependent care flex spending account. </p> <p>This article is a pretty good one on how the two options work:</p> <p><a href="http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/personalfinance/lifeevents/benefits/dependentFSAs.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/personalfinance/lifeevents/benefits/dependentFSAs.php</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720211 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 07:43:08 +0000 regberadaisy 1720211@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Absolutely because it's pretax! In the long run you're saving $!</p> <p>With our last one I was able to submit claims online so I'll just have the director email me a receipt. I upload it, submit claim and in a few days the money is in my account. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720185 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 07:13:39 +0000 matador84 1720185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Smurfette: @MamaG: this is from irs: (#7)<br /> I was told 5k, but irs says 6k for 2 or more. </p> [attach=2081/14/n7q4mr.338x600.image.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720153 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 06:40:16 +0000 Mamaof2 1720153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My DH does it - 5K max per family is what he was told. He usually submits for reimbursement 4 times a year but last year he forgot and got a 5K check at the end! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720147 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 06:34:32 +0000 looch 1720147@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use it. The most challenging part is to get the school's finance office to send us the forms that are required...they need to be signed off by the principal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1720103 Wed, 25 Jun 2014 05:27:10 +0000 Smurfette 1720103@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. High Heels: I am curious too!<br /> @MamaG: I have never heard if $6k either. We were told $5k was the max, no matter how many kids you have. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719940 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:13:17 +0000 MamaG 1719940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: I'm a little confused by being allowed to do $6,000 with two children in dependent care flex. I thought the IRS limit was $5,000 per family regardless of number of children. I know the 1040 deduction (or credit, I forget which) is $3,000 per child, which can only be taken if you don't do the flex benefit. So if you have two children and do flex, you can actually claim $1,000 (6,000-5,000). Or at least that's my understanding. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719939 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:13:01 +0000 matador84 1719939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: nope! Prob should </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719936 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:08:58 +0000 Mrs. Pen 1719936@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: have you ever had an FSA account? It's just like that!</p> <p>J starts daycare in August (!!), so we will enroll starting January. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719928 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:05:05 +0000 matador84 1719928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: abhhhh got it!<br /> @Mrs. High Heels: curious as to why too!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719927 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:03:26 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1719927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: You didn't misunderstand, it is $5k annually per family. So we still hit the cap at the $5k max. My husband handles all this stuff so I'm not very well versed in it either. I'll need to ask him why he thought we should both contribute versus just having one of us do it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719924 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:01:29 +0000 yoursilverlining 1719924@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@matador84: not dumb! after the $$ goes into the account, you submit proof of your daycare expense and they (the account) send you a check for the amount of your qualified expense (or, electronically transfers the money back into your checking account.) you can make withdrawals at any time, some people do it weekly or monthly, I just leave the money in the account and make a once a year withdrawal once it's hit the $5k max. </p> <p>Hopefully this helps! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719922 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 22:00:26 +0000 bisous 1719922@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So worth it for the tax benefit. I can't remember what it is that we save, but it is even more worth it because like a 401k, my company matches $.25 on the dollar that I contribute...so I can contribute $4000 pre tax and I end up with $5000 in the account. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/do-you-use-a-dependent-care-account#post-1719886 Tue, 24 Jun 2014 21:40:07 +0000 matador84 1719886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: now I'm more confused how it works! So I get 416/month taken out of my check pre-tax. It goes into the account. What happens next? I feel so dumb! </p>