Daycare FSA
Hi,
I am enrolling my daughter at CEC daycare in Berkeley for the last few months of 2018. Has anyone had any experience using a daycare FSA with CEC or other daycare? Do you need the daycare to provide some kind of formal receipt to get reimbursed?
Also - I have to pay a $500 deposit plus last month of care in advance. Can I apply either or both to the amount of my FSA reimbursement? I'm not sure I will need the full $5000 this year since it will only be two months of care. Thus, whether I can apply the deposit and last month advance pay matters in my case.
Thanks,
Erika
May 14, 2018
Parent Replies
We're at CEC! They email an invoice every month and that's what I've been using to get reimbursed - it has been working for me.
Not sure about your other question I would guess that anything that goes toward care in 2018 can be paid for with the FSA - so your last month's advance, probably not. But I don't know for sure.
Hi Erika, I have used DCFSA (dependent care FSA) for daycare and preschool. The daycare was an in home center and the preschool was at a facility center. You need the daycare to provide a formal receipt to get reimbursed. The receipt must include the tax ID number, your child's name, dates and type of service, and the amount billed. The CEC should know what to provide. I'm not sure about the deposit being applied to the reimbursement. You would need to contact the company that handles your FSA account.
You will need a receipt from the daycare that includes their Tax Id number.
You can only be reimbursed for daycare expenses after the care has happened, so you won't be able to get reimbursed for the last month until you use it. I run into this every year with summer camps - I sign up for some in January and February either to get early bird discounts or because they are really popular, and I can't get reimbursed until my kids attend the camp in the summer.
I believe you can submit the deposit, but not the last month care. You only can submit FSA for the month or care that already passed and deducted from tour paycheck. Ex: in May, after April FSA deducted from your paycheck, you can submit reimbursement for April. You will need receipt and day care tax id number on the receipt.
Hi Erika,
I just started using one myself. Different daycare but I believe the process is the same. You submit signed receipts from the daycare (or babysitter) for care that has already happened. These accounts don't pay out for future service. If you submit more bills than you currently have funds in the account, they will just accrue the debt and pay out gradually as your paycheck feeds into the account.
So far the whole process has worked smoothly for me.
Liz