The Federal Tax Credits Blog

Posts Tagged ‘childcare’

Question: UK child tax & working tax credits question?

I am currently a SAHM and looking for work and have a qestion about childcare costs, My Husband works full time self employed but not doing to well and I am just wondering if I went back to work do we get help with childcare costs and what is the percentage. I will Phone Tax Credits people tomorrow, just wondering if anyone had any personal experience on this issue?
Thanks in Advance

Answer: If you search online for
‘Working tax credits’ you can do a ‘mock’ application online and it will give you an approximate answer

I applied recently, I work F/T but my husband is self employed

I was successful in getting working tax credit and child tax credit,so it is definitely worth going for

Help with childcare costs for working parents

Still Undecided? Here’s the 2011 voting guide

With only one week left in the election, there are still those who still don’t know who they want to vote for. So for those who still need top make up their minds, here is The Northern View’s 2011 Voting Guide.

“We’re All in this Together” – Bleeding Hearts

Question: All jargon aside… FSA vs. Child Care Tax Credit?

I’ve been looking into setting up a flexible spending account for dependent care with my company, but the more I read about it, the more confused I get. I have two children and as of now, they go to daycare part-time. Their dad takes them and then goes to work. In the near future, this will not be possible, as he will be starting a job that requires working many, many more hours. So, my two are going to have to go to daycare full-time, but the expense is going to be outrageous! Is a flexible spending account the right thing for me to do? Also, we pay daycare costs on a weekly basis….will this have any effect on us? Basically, will someone explain this to me in layman’s terms?? Help!

Answer: Hi Charley,

Ultimately, you will need to do a dollar-for-dollar comparison to decide which is best for you. The general rule of thumb is:

Two Children or more – An FSA is more favorable on taxable income above $68,750:

CCTC – 20% of $6,000 = $1,200
FSA – 25% of $5,000 = $1,250

Hope this helps!

—
Brad

Don’t You Dare Deduct These Expenses

Every tax season the hunt begins to find the most tax deductions, but there are some deductions you should steer clear of.

ARMS DOWN! Campaign

Question: How do I stop my PC from being invaded protect my credit card details?

I have Firewall enabled and antivirus and malware checkers and Phishing filters etc enabled but someone still managed to get my card details when I used it on the internet. 2 cards in 3 days, one of them was paying the car tax @ dvla. so I know its the PC that’s been compromised.

Answer: You haven’t given too much info on your system so I’ll suggest a few things:
1) Use the Comodo firewall.
2) If you’re using XP, turn off the XP firewall after installing Comodo.
3) Use the popular Anti-Virus software (Avast, AntiVir, AVG, Kaspersky etc.) and turn on their real-time protection.
4) Use at least 2 different Anti-Spyware (like Spyware Terminator and SUPERAntiSpyware). Spyware Terminator has real-time protection and SUPERAntiSpyware is used for occasional scanning.
AVG Anti-Spyware is good as well.
5) Turn off unnecessary services.

For more help, check out TechRepublic for guides on the OS you use.

Walt Disney World Resort Update

Contract negotiations with Walt Disney World’s biggest union going nowhere; union releases incendiary film | Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade broadcast to feature Disney Channel, reality show stars | and lost more.

Datexx DB-413 Checkbook Calculator $24.99 Lighten Up! New 3 – Memory Checkbook Tracks Checks, ATM and Credit Card Entries, Plus Calendar and Time Time and calendar features clock, calendar, checkbook organizer all in one unit Monitor 3 accounts and tracks back 20 entries Built-in sales tax checker prevents costly rip-offs Heavy-duty vinyl wallet safely stores credit cards and receipts Slim, light and easy to carry only 6 oz. “I love this …

Rent To Own – No Credit Check – Landover, MD – New Kitchen – Seller Financing

Question: Flexible spending (cafetieria plan) option: Good or bad?

I signed up for a dependent care FSA this year. The total amount available per calendar year is $5000.00 and I chose the whole amount. I get paid weekly, so, I have $96.15 taken out of each paycheck.

My son’s daycare is $145 per week. I know that I will use the $5000 prior to year end so am not worried about “using it or losing it”. However, I was wondering if this is a good plan and how it will affect my child tax credits when I do my tax return next year? Also want to know if this account can also be used for my son’s medical prescriptions & Dr. visits? I heard that you may not be able to if you have only a dependent care plan set up.

Do you ultimately feel the FSA is a good advantage and why?

Thanks

Answer: You cannot use FSA-Dependant Daycare for Unreimbursed Medical Expenses (UME). However, if your employer offers an FSA for daycare, they probably also offer a similar program for UME (either a cafeteria plan or a Health Savings Acct).

This program will not effect your child tax credit, but it will effect your Dependant Daycare tax credit (you probably lost it). But the benefits you see from using the 125 plan, usually far outweigh the Dependant Daycare tax credit. Because you did the 125 plan, your tax refund will be smaller, however, you probably saved more than that throughout the year.

With the Daycare tax credit, you probably would have saved $600-$1050 (depending on your income level, higher your income, the lower the credit). With the 125 plan, you probably saved $950-$1950 over the course of the year, higher the tax bracket, higher the savings. Even though your tax refund may be smaller, you are getting larger paychecks.

To know for sure if this is a good plan for you, I would have to know a bit more information about your taxable income, but for a vast majority of taxpayers, the Cafeteria plan that you are doing is a good deal.

Queasing over Quantitative Easing, Part IV

By David Merkel. In my last post on this topic, I went over the orthodox and unorthodox monetary policy responses to the crisis in the US. Here were the orthodox options: Read more » »

Bipartisan Meeting on Health Reform: Part 2