I am required by the state to keep my yard and home free of pests/bugs. I would not normally utilize the services of a professional exterminator but this year I have noticed an increase in the little spiders, wasps, and ants so I will be.

Can I write off 100% of this expense or does it need to be T/S % since we benefit from it outside of daycare hours?

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I know its not an answer to your question but anotheralternative that's safer for the kids are homemade alternatives made from household ingredients. Here are a couple that I use

Insecticide:
1/2 teaspoon dishwashing liquid
1/4 teaspoon cooking oil
1 quart warm water
Mix all ingredients in a spray bottle. Mist upper and under sides of leaves every 10 days to control mealy bug, spider mite, aphids, thrips, or any other sucking or chewing insects. Yup have to spray it more often than other insecticides but its cheaper and safer.

Cinnamon around the areas that you want to keep insects like ants, they won't cross it. It drives them crazy.

Borax in trash cans and around the perimeter of your house also works for ants and its poisonous to them so you have a likely chance of having the ants taking it
bak to the colony and feeding it directly to the queen which will then destroy the entire colony. I've tried this for ants before and got rid of all.of the ants when we had a huge ant problem.

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I did that last year, but unfortunately this year things are a lot worse. Our housing community used to be horse pastures so there are a TON of pests still!!!!

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There is no clear answer to your question. The assertive answer would be to claim 100% of the cost because you are required to keep your home free of pests. The conservative answer would be to use your time-space %. Unless your licensor specifically told you you must use a professional exterminator, I'd use the conservative answer.

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