Flex Spending Childcare Fund?

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:Worked part-time (15-25 hrs/wk for 5 weeks) with a family over the summer, paid cash weekly. It has been a month since I've completed my job and she just emailed me asking for my SSN for the flex spending childcare fund.. Anyone familiar with this program? She said it isn't for taxes and since I was paid cash, I didn't even deduct taxes to send to IRS.

25 x 13 x 5 = $1625 - if that's what you earned, you are below the threshold for taxes, as far as I know.

I would ask to meet them somewhere to fill out the paperwork - I always have had to sign off on this sort of thing anyway, so you might as well meet them, confirm what they are claiming as your pay, and give them your info.

[Anonymous]

Why would they pay cash? This is a red flag in my book. They were apparently planning to pay under the table, or they would have paid by check.

[Anonymous]

OP, this request is really not nefarious at all. Your former employer used a flex spending plan to put aside some of their salary to cover childcare costs. It saves the employee a little bit of money and is just an issue of her getting her money reimbursed. It doesn't impact what you were paid, or the taxes that were withheld, at all.

She just has to justify that she actually did spend those monies on legitimate childcare - so the form asks for a SSN when the services are provided by an employee.

The real choice about reimbursing these fund (and any judgement calls about the authenticity) can often be ruled on by the benefits administrator.

Unless you have some reason to want to cause your former employer hardship, I would give her the info. If you're seriously concerned about the safety of your SSN you can ask her if there is a way you could provide this ONLY to the administrator of the program (for purposes of verification) or if there is some other way you can authenticate that she did pay you to care for her child(ren).

I am the administrator of these programs in my workplace, and I use them myself to help offset a small amount of the cost for our childcare - that's why I can understand what she needs. As long as you want to be helpful I'm sure there is a way to work it out (if you are uncomfortable providing your SSN.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would they pay cash? This is a red flag in my book. They were apparently planning to pay under the table, or they would have paid by check.

18:24, any idea about this question?

[Anonymous]

nannydebsays wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Worked part-time (15-25 hrs/wk for 5 weeks) with a family over the summer, paid cash weekly. It has been a month since I've completed my job and she just emailed me asking for my SSN for the flex spending childcare fund.. Anyone familiar with this program? She said it isn't for taxes and since I was paid cash, I didn't even deduct taxes to send to IRS.

25 x 13 x 5 = $1625 - if that's what you earned, you are below the threshold for taxes, as far as I know.

I would ask to meet them somewhere to fill out the paperwork - I always have had to sign off on this sort of thing anyway, so you might as well meet them, confirm what they are claiming as your pay, and give them your info.

Thanks, this what I will do. Hopefully, she'll want to meet up. Also, do you think if I ask for her to mail me a copy, I could fill out my portion and return it??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would they pay cash? This is a red flag in my book. They were apparently planning to pay under the table, or they would have paid by check.

18:24, any idea about this question?

Some weeks I was paid cash, and some weeks I received a personal check.. Does it matter ?

[Anonymous]

Did you keep meticulous records of the different amounts she paid you each week? If not, how would you remember at this point? That's why she paid you in cash some of the time. What if her numbers of what she paid you don't match with your numbers??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you keep meticulous records of the different amounts she paid you each week? If not, how would you remember at this point? That's why she paid you in cash some of the time. What if her numbers of what she paid you don't match with your numbers??

I input everything into my calendar so every Friday, I would input what I made to have a record. This is why I said I only made $200-400 every week I actually worked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you keep meticulous records of the different amounts she paid you each week? If not, how would you remember at this point? That's why she paid you in cash some of the time. What if her numbers of what she paid you don't match with your numbers??

I input everything into my calendar so every Friday, I would input what I made to have a record. This is why I said I only made $200-400 every week I actually worked.

That's really VERY fortunate. It'll be interesting to see if her numbers match yours. Let us know...

[Anonymous]

A Flex Spending Acct. is tax~free money saved in an acct. for childcare that must be used up by a certain time or the money is forfeited. Your bosses saved it in a separate work acct. and don't have to pay taxes on it, but they do have to utilize it by a certain date or they lose every penny of it.

I don't see why they didn't mention this to you at the onset of your employment. I am sure they knew this money existed. Since they paid you in cash payment, there really is no paper trail as of now that you worked for them so I would just not send them my #SSN. Yes, it would be legal now and through the IRS since it would be going through this acct.

If I were in your shoes, as long as she didn't know where I lived, I would blow her off.

It is totally irresponsible of them to not inform you prior of this action.

My guess is they were using the money for other child~related things and realized they had some left over money and since it has to be spent soon, they thought, "Oh...Let's just contact our Summer sitter and get her to give us her TIN, Tax Iden. Number = #SSN so we can apply the money to that..." which I find kinda shady and irresponsible. It's like a last thought so they do not waste any of their monies.

[Anonymous]

Fwiw I get a Ssn on an application when hiring.

If you were paid cash, regardless of any withholding or not, just remember you still have to declare this income or you are potentially setting yourself up for tax evasion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fwiw I get a Ssn on an application when hiring.

If you were paid cash, regardless of any withholding or not, just remember you still have to declare this income or you are potentially setting yourself up for tax evasion.

Do you give your SSN to random people?

[Anonymous]

This is not giving your SSN to a random person! The former employer needs a record of who the child care provider was so that she/he can demonstrate that an actual person did provide care for his/her dependents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Flex Spending Acct. is tax~free money saved in an acct. for childcare that must be used up by a certain time or the money is forfeited. Your bosses saved it in a separate work acct. and don't have to pay taxes on it, but they do have to utilize it by a certain date or they lose every penny of it.

I don't see why they didn't mention this to you at the onset of your employment. I am sure they knew this money existed. Since they paid you in cash payment, there really is no paper trail as of now that you worked for them so I would just not send them my #SSN. Yes, it would be legal now and through the IRS since it would be going through this acct.

If I were in your shoes, as long as she didn't know where I lived, I would blow her off.

It is totally irresponsible of them to not inform you prior of this action.

My guess is they were using the money for other child~related things and realized they had some left over money and since it has to be spent soon, they thought, "Oh...Let's just contact our Summer sitter and get her to give us her TIN, Tax Iden. Number = #SSN so we can apply the money to that..." which I find kinda shady and irresponsible. It's like a last thought so they do not waste any of their monies.

This is pretty harsh. The rules around using the FSA childcare accounts aren't immediately obvious, and unless you have a skilled/knowledgeable HR team educate you on how to do it you often don't realize what you need to file for reimbursement until that time comes. (I'm an MB who had to go through the whole process to fully understand it.) Her employers may just be learning as they go, not shady or irresponsible. If OP wishes to harm her former employers then she can blow them off. If she had a decent relationship with them (and wants to preserve the reference, if nothing else) then she should try to find a way to help them.

We're all people - try cutting someone a break and assuming good intent instead of bad automatically.

[Anonymous]

Some of us have BTDT, a few too many times, PP. Unfortunately, most MBs aren't as sweet as you are.