Defining child care expenses
Child care expenses are amounts you or another person paid to have someone look after an eligible child so that you or the other person could:
- Earn income from employment;
- Carry on a business either alone or as an active partner;
- Attend an eligible educational program; or
- Carry on research or similar work for which you or the other person received a grant
The child must have lived with you or the other person when the expense was incurred for the expense to qualify. Usually, you can only deduct payments for services provided in Canada by a Canadian resident.
What can I claim?
In general, you can claim payments made to:
- Caregivers providing child care services;
- Day nursery schools and daycare centres;
- Educational institutions, for the part of the fees that relate to child care services;
- Day camps and day sports schools where the primary goal of the camp is to care for children (an institution offering a sports study program is not a sports school); or
- Boarding schools, overnight sports schools, or camps where lodging is involved
Enter child care expenses in Pro Tax
The Dependent form is used to add child care expenses for dependents.
Click the Dependent form from the left-side menu bar.
In the child care expenses detail section, enter the following:
- Dependent
- Organization
- Social Insurance Number (SIN)
- Number of weeks (for time boarding school, overnight sports school, or overnight camp)
- Amounts paid
The expenses automatically flow from the Dependent form to the T778 - Child care expense deduction form.
If the client is eligible to claim child care expenses the amount calculated on the T778 form flows to the T1 general Line 21400 as a deduction.