Dependent Care FDA - Carry Overt Funds

[Aimee19]

I can't figure out how to answer the following question:

Enter the amount of any excess contribution that you carried over from 2023 that you used to pay qualified expenses during the grace period in 2024.

Is this referring to funds that were reimbursed during the grace period or expenses that were incurred during the grace period?  I filed a claim during the grace period in early 2024 to be reimbursed for dependent care expenses incurred in the end of 2023.  Do these count as carry over since I was reimbursed in 2024?  Or not, since the dependent care charges that I am being reimbursed for were incurred in 2023?

Thanks!

[MindyB]

No- the care expenses incurred at the end of 2023 do not count as carryover.  Carryover would mean that you did not spend the amount in 2023, and instead you used what was "carried over" against expenses incurred in 2024.

You can answer "no" to the question and continue on.

[Aimee19]

Great!  Thank you!

Aimee 

[Aimee19]

One more related question:

Would the answer to the following question be "0"?

Did Aimee have a Flexible Spending Account to pay for child or dependent care? - YES

If you had any money left in your account at the end of the year, enter the amount here. If you used it all, just enter 0.

Thank you!

Aimee 

[JohnB5677]

That would depend on the value left in the  Flexible Spending Account

• If you've taken everything out of the account, you would enter -0-.  
• If you had any funds left in the account, enter that amount in the space provided.

With a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), you can typically carry over a portion of your unused funds to the next plan year.

That is why the question is asked.

[Aimee19]

I am not automatically reimbursed for my dependent care.  I have to request reimbursement.  So while I spent all of the dependent care in 2024, I didn't request reimbursement for a portion of the 2024 funds until early 2025 (in the grace period).  So even though I spent all of the money in 2024, do I enter the portion for which I wasn't reimbursed until 2025 in response to this question? I thought the first tax expert who responded to this post indicated that it is the year that the expenses were incurred, not the year they were reimbursed, that matters.

Thank you!

[MarilynG1]

Yes, if you were reimbursed for 2024 dependent care expenses in early 2025 (grace period), you can enter $0 for value left in your FSA at the end of the year.

With a flexible spending account, with a grace period, you can claim expenses incurred for 2024, even though you were not actually reimbursed until 2025. 

Here's more info on Flexible Spending Accounts and the Child Care Credit. 

@Aimee19 

[Edited 3/12/25 | 4:48 pm]