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Does Food Reimbursement From Parents Count As Income?
I have searched lots and lots of threads, and have found lots of information about how to count food reimbursement from a program. While my income would qualify me for a food program, I don't have a license and only watch 1 child who's not my own part time (10-12 hrs/week), and for a variety of reasons (yard not fenced, no second set of stairs leading from upstairs, etc.) I don't really want to get licensed.
The girls' parents tend to eat organic and all that and have just been providing her food each day, but we're discussing going to common meals next year to avoid any food envy between their child and my kiddos. She's offered to give me extra money for food, but I'm not sure how that fits into "income". Does it count as extra income, and then I just deduct the normal food amounts after the fact? Do I have to count it at all if I'm just spending it on their child anyway (like if they provided the food itself)? I can't seem to find a straight answer on this, so thanks for any light you can shed on the situation! I don't want to start something that could turn into a mess! |
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but...
Yes, that is income. All money that comes into your program counts as income. You will deduct the cost of food, though. There are two ways to deduct the cost of food: the actual cost of the food or by using the standard meal deduction. |
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Hmmm... That's good to know, thank you, and I do think it answers my question.
Aside: I'm beginning to think this whole part time child care thing is just way too much of a headache for the end result! I feel like I'm spending hours and hours and hours just researching what I need to do and track and calculate, and all this for what's going to save me very little in the long run, given that 10 hours of care a week 8 months of the year comes out to a time percentage of just under 4%, so everything I deduct is not going to matter much anyway. The frugal part of me knows that anything I can save is worth it, but I don't know how people do this! |
No answers but when I read the title I thought is said dog food reimbursement from parents lol was trying to figure out why the parents was covering your dog food. I think it's bedtime for me lol
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Yes, it would have to be counted as income. If you are only doing part time and its not worth the effort to keep all the records of your groceries and the time/space percentage is low then the standard rate deduction may be better for you. For 2013 you would have gotten: Breakfast $1.27, Lunch/Supper $2.38 and per Snack $.71
But it sounds like the parent providing the food is the easier solution for you right now. I have always had every child bring their own lunches and have never really had an issue with the kids eating different foods. They just know they brought their lunch from home, end of story. If they want what someone else is having they will just have to ask mommy to pack them that some time. :D |
If you can keep your daily food cost to under $4.36 (standard meal deduction for breakfast, lunch, and one snack) then it would def. be worth it to provide the meals. Also, with the standard meal deduction as long as you provide SOMETHING you can claim the meal or snack. So if you just serve a couple crackers between breakfast and lunch you can deduct an extra $.71 per day.
If you don't mind sharing, how much do you make per day? Is it just one long day or are those 10-12 hours split up into several days? The reason I ask is because I'm curious how much of your income you can claim just on food. |
This spring, I'll be watching her three days a week, four hours a day. It'll probably include a snack and lunch.
I hadn't realized that I could count a meal if I gave them *anything*, because she's often just snacked on our breakfast foods just because she's here while we're eating (even though she already ate breakfast). Better record keeping from here on out! |
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