ChildCare write offs

[Hayleemphillips]

My mom watches my seven month old baby every day while I am at work and I pay her at the end of the week for babysitting. She is in the process of applying for Disability due to back injuries. Will I be able to claim those childcare expenses, without messing her up on trying to get her disability started? She informed me that she is not going to report it as income on her taxes, but I want to be able to claim those expenses. Is there a way to do that?

[conniem123]

The claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit you identify the person (your mother) that provided care for your child.  You will include name, address, and social security number of the care provider on your return.  This is reported on Form 2441 of your tax return.

Since you could receive a credit , the IRS will check their database based on the provider information you provided to make sure that individual reports the income on their tax return.

 In addition, your tax return must include Schedule H if you pay her at least $2,400 in the 2022 tax year.  The household employment tax that you may have to account for cover her social security tax, Medicare tax, and the federal unemployment tax.

Here is a great resource about Household employees.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/irs-tax-forms/what-is-schedule-h-household-employment-taxes/L7X...

Hope you find this helpful!

[MariaDG]

Hello Hayleemphillips, thanks for participating in our event today! 

This is a great question.  When claiming the credit for dependent care, you have to fill out form 2441 with the name, address, and ssn or ein of the care provider.  Once you do this, you will be informing the IRS that your mother has that income.  You are entitled, legally, to claim the credit, but you may want to talk it through with your mom and make sure you both understand the situation.  If you mom is required to file an income tax return and doesn't, there could be penalties.  However, if your mom makes less than a certain amount she isn't required to file and report her income.  I'll link the table with the income limits below. 
As far as her disability goes, there is a limit to how much your mom can earn and still be eligible for benefits.  If you stay under that limit, maybe both of you can get what you need.  I'll give you a link for that information as well. 

Who Must File

SS Disability