Nanny share and Dependent care FSA

[Anonymous]

Hello,

my daughter is going to be part of a "nanny share" that takes place at the other family's home (the nanny is going to take care of the 2 children). I'd like to know if I can use a Dependent care FSA to pay for the nanny services ?
So far the other couple will apply for the EIN, they will pay the nanny and the nanny taxes and them we will pay them half of the expenses.
I am not really familiar with all the procedures and paperwork since this is my first child and I just have gone back to work. Also I understand that the money I would put into an FSA account is "use it or lose it", so I don't want to risk putting $5000 dollars in there and not being able to use it !

Thanks for the help !

[Anonymous]

Here's an example of the form you need to fill out to get reimbursed.

http://www.aetna.com/data/forms_library/dependent_care_reimb.pdf

It seems like you could meet the documentation requirements.

[Anonymous]

You should be able to do this - the type of care you're describing definitely qualifies. But you should double check the documentation you will need. A fair amount of the judgment on this can be done at the employer's discretion so I would talk with the appropriate person in your office, or with the benefits administrator, and ask them to let you know what you need documented to be reimbursed. (And I'd get that answer by email or in written form.)

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure you'll need your own EIN, from what my own employers have had to include on those sort of forms. Plus, without your own EIN how will you take any childcare tax credits? I would think having the other family do all the tax stuff might not be the best idea in many ways.

[Anonymous]

I've nannied in a nanny share before and each family had their own EIN and paid their half directly to me each payday. This allowed for a smooth experience in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

MB here. I have an EIN for paying my nanny and associated holdings and remittances. But for claiming back from my Dependent care account my EIN doesn't come into play. I do need the nanny a SSN though and evidence of payment (eg my payroll report).

[Anonymous]

My dependent care claim consists of this:

I fill out the form saying how much I paid out during what period of time. Then our child care provider signs it, verifying that she was paid that much, and that she performed child care. We fax the form in, the reimbursement shows up several days later.

This should work just fine in a nannyshare situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dependent care claim consists of this:

I fill out the form saying how much I paid out during what period of time. Then our child care provider signs it, verifying that she was paid that much, and that she performed child care. We fax the form in, the reimbursement shows up several days later.

This should work just fine in a nannyshare situation.

I should add that if you are a Fed using FSA Feds, you don't need an EIN. All you need is their printable form, the providers SSN, the amount you are asking to be reimbursed for, and the date of services. And the nanny's signature.

I tried to provide them with more than this, but my payroll report only confused the processors. In their mind, the payroll report only told them that I paid someone money, but not what service was rendered. What they really wanted was the nanny's signature each time.