Thanks, I think I get it now.  Turbo Tax counts the $5000 I entered in Box 10 as taxable income until I enter child care expenses in the Deductions section?  So the refund then goes up by $5000 multiplied by my marginal tax rate.    For example only, if my Box 1 was $100k and Box 10 was $5k, Turbo Tax assumes I owe tax on $105k until I enter in my $5k child care expenses. At that point, Turbo Tax no longer recognizes Box 10 as taxable income and I'm back to being taxed at $100k (before all other deductions of course).

Exactly.  Turbo Tax does the math but not until you enter for the expenses

Thanks.  I was a little thrown off because the dependent care benefit is taken out of my paycheck pre-tax and it's not included in the Box 1 total.  I guess it makes sense because I need to prove to the IRS that the pre-taxed amount was actually used for its express purpose (even though i sent proof to the benefits administrator too).  Thanks again!