Flexibale Spending: Child Care
 

Hey All,

It's that time of year and I need some advise on the rules for opting for Flex Spending for Child Care. My Spouse is currently not working however is activity looking for work so i wanted to know if I am still able to opt for the plan if she does not have a job currently?

Any Advise would be of great help in completing these over complicated forms.

Thanks
O

Re: Flexibale Spending: Child Care
 

I found the below which kind off answers my question:

http://www.osp.state.nc.us/ncflex/PD...nformation.pdf

*So as long as she gets a job by the end of the tax year and earns over $5000 I should be OK.

Is my thinking correct?

Thanks
O

Re: Flexibale Spending: Child Care
 

I called my husband's HR department with exactly that question a couple of weeks ago. I recently lost my job and my daughter is still in pre-school in the hope that I might land a job soon (we don't want to disrupt her schedule by taking her out of school and then dropping her back in).

I didn't check the link that you found but HR told me that typically BOTH spouses would need to work in order to participate. However my husband's employer (which happened to be the same as my employer too) said that, should I land a job then he (or I) could enroll at that time since it counts as a 'life change event' meaning you can change benefits outside of the regular open enrollment period.

The other restriction they mentioned is that the amount would be approx $192 per paycheck (he gets paid every two weeks) and if I was to get a job say halfway through the year, then he could only contribute a total of approx $2500 for the year; you can't 'overcontribute' to get to $5000 for the year if I (the spouse) only works for half the year. And don't forget that if you don't use it then you lose it.

Not sure if these restrictions will match what your employer offers. I suggest that you contact your HR department. We opted not to sign up until I land a job.

Re: Flexibale Spending: Child Care
 

Watch the limits on the joint income as well - I was looking into until I realised both spouses needed to work.

Re: Flexibale Spending: Child Care
 

We decided to skip the dependent care account this year and just take the tax credit. It's so annoying having to pay for daycare out of pocket and then wait until we have enough in the dependent care account to be reimbursed.