What this line means
Your total qualified expenses for the care of all qualifying persons listed on line 2. Qualified expenses include costs for care provided inside or outside your home — daycare, babysitters, nannies, nursery school, before-school and after-school programs, and day camp. 1
Overnight camp does not qualify. Food, clothing, schooling (tuition for first grade and above), and entertainment do not qualify unless they are inseparable from the cost of care. The maximum amount of expenses the IRS considers is $3,000 for one qualifying person or $6,000 for two or more qualifying persons. 2
Does this apply to you?
- You paid for daycare, preschool, or nursery school for a child under 13
- You paid a nanny, babysitter, or au pair to care for your child while you worked
- You paid for before-school or after-school care programs
- You paid for summer day camp (not overnight camp)
- You paid for care of a disabled spouse or dependent so you could work
Easy to overlook
Summer day camp counts, overnight camp does not Day camp fees — including sports camps, art camps, and STEM camps — are qualified expenses as long as the primary purpose is custodial care while you work. Overnight camp is excluded entirely, even if it costs less than day camp. Filers with children in mixed programs need to separate the day camp portion. 1 IRS Publication 503 — Qualified expenses
Nursery school and preschool qualify in full Tuition for nursery school, preschool, and pre-kindergarten qualifies as a care expense, even though it includes an educational component. The IRS treats these programs as primarily custodial for children below the first-grade level. Once a child enters first grade, only the before-school and after-school care portions qualify — not the tuition itself. 2 IRS Form 2441 instructions — Line 3
Watch out for this
The $3,000/$6,000 limit is per household, not per child. If you have three children in daycare costing $15,000 total, the IRS still caps your qualified expenses at $6,000. This limit is further reduced if your employer provides dependent care benefits through a flexible spending account (FSA). A $5,000 employer FSA contribution drops your remaining qualified expense limit from $6,000 to $1,000 for two or more qualifying persons.
Footnotes
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IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, Qualifying Expenses. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p503.pdf ↩ ↩2
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IRS Form 2441 Instructions, Line 3 — Qualified Expenses. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2441.pdf ↩ ↩2