Originally Posted by Michael:
This would be better answered by Tom Copeland or your accountant. In order to get the deduction, a parent would need to spend the money on childcare. Parents would have to spend money in order to get the money back. It offers parents the ability to now spend more on the childcare, since they can deduct more. That’s how I am reading it.
I see CatHearders POV, and while this may seem like a logical thought process regarding $$, many low income families will not use it to their benefit.
I termed a family like this. They received their childcare credit, used a portion to pay their bills, but then instead of putting the rest into savings to pay future bills, they blew it. Big screen Tv's, New phones, name brand clothing for themselves, you name it. Then, August rolled around, and surprise surprise the family could not afford to pay their bills, they had fallen behind on loan payments for items they purchased with their tax money.
I just see this as a continuing cycle, one that having more expendable income at the end of the year will not solve.