https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 06 May 2026 11:35:36 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2907431 Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:55:20 +0000 KT326 2907431@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: I can’t submit a claim until service has been rendered. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2907430 Thu, 02 Jan 2020 16:51:16 +0000 SweetCaroline 2907430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: meh, I'd submit it. Worst case they'll deny it and you just resubmit after the services have been provided. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2907423 Thu, 02 Jan 2020 15:03:30 +0000 gotkimchi 2907423@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>One more question for everyone - my daycare has us pay ahead. So I’ve already paid for care through the 10 of January. Can I submit that receipt now or do I need to wait for it to be after January 10? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880170 Wed, 10 Apr 2019 09:42:36 +0000 MaryM 2880170@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our childcare FSA can be paid with the same credit card as my medical FSA. </p> <p>We've been using it when cash gets tight. The last couple months, I log in to our daycare portal (where we have automatic payment linked to our bank card) and I'll make a payment with the FSA card. Since that week is paid for, they won't take an additional payment from our bankcard. </p> <p>It's been handy when things like new tires and a broken heat pump pop up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880032 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 14:14:44 +0000 gotkimchi 2880032@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lindseykaye: thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880030 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 13:49:34 +0000 lindseykaye 2880030@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: From what I understand it's dependent on how much you spend in childcare whether this or the tax credit is more beneficial. </p> <p>I copied this from my plan benefit info:<br /> When will I receive a greater tax benefit using the Dependent Care Spending account instead of the Dependent Care tax credit?</p> <p>If your dependent care expenses are in excess of the tax credit’s dollar limits, you may be better off in a dependent care FSA. For example:</p> <p>• An employee with one dependent who has over the $3,000 tax credit limit is better off with the dependent care FSA since the limit per family is $5,000.</p> <p>• An employee with two dependents who has $5,000 or more in dependent care expenses is better off using the FSA first, then applying the remaining expenses to the tax credit limit (up to $6,000).</p> <p>• Employees with little or no taxable income are better off in the dependent care FSA since it will allow them to still save on FICA taxes.</p> <p>Hope that helps! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880022 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 12:57:45 +0000 gotkimchi 2880022@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Does anyone know is this better tax wise then the child care credit/ is that even a thing with the new tax law? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880005 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 12:10:27 +0000 macintosh 2880005@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My dependent care plan has a card that I use to pay the invoice online. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2880001 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 12:06:17 +0000 gotkimchi 2880001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: thank you so much I didn’t know this </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879985 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 11:13:49 +0000 PurplePeony 2879985@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: yes, healthcare and dependent care work differently. With healthcare FSAs, you get access to your entire election upfront and if you use it all and then leave mid-year, your employer eats the loss. With dependent care FSAs, you can only be reimbursed the actual amount you’ve had withheld so far that year. I’m pretty sure this is law and not something that varies between plan administrators. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879981 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 11:02:38 +0000 krispi 2879981@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We pay out of pocket and are reimbursed from the FSA. The only hassle is that we pay for daycare by the week. We get a signed and dated receipt each Monday. When it's time to submit for reimbursements, it makes for a lot of receipts to scan in, but it's not a difficult process - just more time consuming than if we paid monthly. I tried combining multiple receipts into one claim before, but it didn't go through. So I wait until we have a good bit of money in our account (usually quarterly or so) and them submit several receipts all at the same time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879926 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 08:23:27 +0000 skinnycow 2879926@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours is super easy to use! We just pay out of pocket for daycare and then submit for reimbursement at the end of the year. There's a portal to submit documentation (just a statement from daycare) and then the money is in our account a few days later. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879918 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 07:36:47 +0000 MamaCate 2879918@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: yup! I dont know what the option is if you can’t use a card I think you can submit for reimbursement?</p> <p>The lovely part is that we paid by credit card for a while and once we switched to the fsa option then they started charging an admin fee for credit cards so now we pay the fsa amount on the card and a check for the rest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879899 Tue, 09 Apr 2019 06:13:17 +0000 gotkimchi 2879899@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: no that makes sense - so you’re saying they only send you what is in you’re acct at the time, it’s not like a few where I have access to my years worth of funds at the first of the year. Is that right? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879887 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 23:28:04 +0000 PurplePeony 2879887@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MamaCate: your daycare accepts cards? Ours is check only so the debit card wouldn’t work for us! What would happen in that situation? I’ve heard of the debit cards for healthcare FSAs but never for DCFSAs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879886 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 23:25:01 +0000 PurplePeony 2879886@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@gotkimchi: when I submit one month’s receipt from daycare, the amount over and above the balance in my DCFSA is “banked” for payment from future deductions. So, since I get paid biweekly, I have $192 and change withheld from each check. That amount then automatically gets deposited into my checking a couple days after each payday, so it basically just washes through. For us, the $5,000 max only covers a little more than 3 months of care, so if I submit receipts for January-April as soon as daycare gives them to us, it means I’m done sending anything in for the year and will just get auto-deposits after each paycheck. And there’s the added benefit of never missing the filing deadline. I hope I explained that clearly enough, let me know if it’s still muddled! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879877 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 22:09:24 +0000 MamaCate 2879877@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: it may be helpful to look into info about your specific provider because it seems like it varies widely. We have used it for the last several years and it has been worth it.</p> <p>We pay with a debit type card sent by the company. You can only pay up to whatever you have had withheld in your check but there is an app/website to get your balance. We pay daycare monthly so at the first of the month I check the balance and then put that amount on the card and the rest out of pocket. Our provider can provide receipts as needed. </p> <p>So there is some tracking involved but it is actually more straightforward in some ways—I know I am going to hit the max every year so I just pay the balance and go from there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879842 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 18:58:14 +0000 mamabolt 2879842@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We pay OPP and then submit for reimbursement. Never had any tax issues. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879834 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:39:34 +0000 gotkimchi 2879834@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: how do you file in advance? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879833 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:21:47 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2879833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@PurplePeony: good idea! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879811 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:16:06 +0000 lindseykaye 2879811@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: Our administrator for dependent care and medical FSA is Discovery Benefits. And I agree, it's so easy to use. It's basically a zero-sum transaction since the amount I take out per paycheck equals what I am using every two weeks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879810 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:13:41 +0000 Corduroy 2879810@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@DesertDreams88: It is pretty easy to get reimbursed and it is worth it but you can screw up by missing the deadline. We did one year. I wasn't handling it but I assumed the deadline for reimbursement was tied to taxes and April 15th. It isn't. It was an expensive lesson to learn. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879806 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 15:03:19 +0000 DillonLion 2879806@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare facilities are usually well versed in providing statements for this kind of thing. We would just pay our monthly tuition, and then 2x a year turn in a statement and get reimbursed by our FSA. It was always a very seamless, easy process! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879797 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:30:28 +0000 DesertDreams88 2879797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lindseykaye: ooooh that seems really nice. Who is your FSA administrator / company? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879796 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:22:36 +0000 PurplePeony 2879796@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: that’s why I file in advance and get reimbursed every two weeks (it usually gets auto-deposited 2-3 days after my paycheck). It works better for our cash-flow than getting big chunks a couple times per year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879795 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:21:25 +0000 lindseykaye 2879795@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours has a recurring dependent care reimbursal form that I fill out at the beginning of the year which states how much we pay weekly in childcare. The provider signs it, and then we file the claim once and upload the form. After that, every week, we get a direct deposit to our bank account with the weekly reimbursal amount.<br /> I have never needed to have receipts or anything like that, and we use a home day care so if I needed something she would be happy to provide it to me but it's not standard practice for her (we pay by check at the start of each month). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879791 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:18:41 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2879791@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My FSA administrator has a one page form that fill in the amount per week, date range I’m filing for and the total amount. Then my daycare director signs it and I upload it in the system.</p> <p>This thread reminds me to make a claim. The nice thing about the FSA is you get to use pre-tax dollars. The bad thing is you are doing paycheck reductions at the same time as paying for daycare. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879790 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:06:22 +0000 LadyDi 2879790@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I paid with my own account and was reimbursed at every pay period. I only had to submit a form once a year, I don't remember it being a hassle. I did file all of our statements from daycare just in case. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879783 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 13:29:37 +0000 PurplePeony 2879783@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our daycare gives us a monthly statement showing we paid, and that’s what I submit. I generally submit one month’s statement and then automatically get reimbursed the $192 and change that’s withheld from each paycheck (I max out the amount in equal installments and get paid bi-weekly). When I reach the end of the requested amount, I submit another month’s statement. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/using-an-fsa-to-pay-for-childcare#post-2879780 Mon, 08 Apr 2019 13:10:54 +0000 Chuckles 2879780@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm not savvy about that kind of thing, and it was super easy. I just downloaded monthly invoices from our daycare and then submitted them online. I got reimbursed twice a year. The only issue we had was our daycare provider got messy/disorganized with invoices for awhile, and it took extra work on my end to sort it out. </p>