Open Enrollment for Benefits

bullybutt

Can someone educate me on the Dependent Care FSA?  What is the actual "benefit" in enrolling?

bullybutt

So do you get an account with the $5000 to pay daycare with?  Like a debit card system or do they mail you a check?

ashleymarie1027

This is a great benefit, however make sure you and your spouse don't both register for it because you could get hit with a tax penalty. My father is a CPA and warned my husband and I that if we both use the $5000 benefit, we would get hit with a penalty when filing for our taxes the following year. Note that this would be an actual penalty and not just a repayment of the deferred taxes from the extra FSA account.

Edit to add: or at least check before both partners sign up; may be different state to state

bullybutt

Yeah, their father has no clue about this since he is self employed.  I pay for daycare and all their expenses so he doesn't get to claim them on his taxes.

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hrgwu2006

And I believe you can either participate in the FSA or get a credit on taxes when you file - not both.  You'll have to do the math and see which was is going to be better.

bullybutt

Ugh, now I'm even more confused.  How do I figure out what the math will be?  I typically do my own taxes and this is going to cause an even bigger cluster fuck.

hrgwu2006

Thanks for the clarification @stellabunny

And I don't think you can claim dependent care expenses if you don't have an eligible dependent.  But again, who knows.  Tax codes are so weird and sometimes really difficult!