That's right. Because it's almost impossible for a home day care to separate dc food from family food--seriously, you aren't going to have 2 different packages of cheese, one for dc, one for family. You are going to overlap.

So, instead of keeping receipts for food (still keep them for cleaning supplies and light bulbs, etc for your time/space calculations), you keep careful records of what time your kids are in care.

I use a sign in sheet. Each day, the parent writes the time they drop off and the time they pick up. At the end of the week, I look at it and check off the meals each child was fed, using my Redleaf Calendar Keeper. So, if Mary arrived at 8:30 and left at 7, I know I fed her lunch, dinner, and 2 snacks. If Joe got here at 6:30 and left at 1:00, I know I gave him breakfast, lunch, and 1 snack. I total the meals up each month, and at the end of the year I add them up for my meal deduction. Be sure you keep the sign in sheets with your tax records in case of audit. It proves not only your times for time/space, but backs up your meals.)

I may be telling you things you already know, but if you haven't checked out the taxes forum here, you should. A home day care can deduct things that no one else is allowed to deduct--toilet paper, and Lysol, and light bulbs. I highly recommend Tom Copeland's books when you start doing your taxes.

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