Expense Requirements

To claim the credit, the following expenses are allowed:

• household services including cook, maid, babysitter, housekeeper, or cleaning person, if the services were partly for the care of the qualifying person
• care of the qualifying person including services provided outside of the home, as long as the qualifying person spends at least eight hours a day in the home
• day care for children
• daytime dependent care center for adults

The following expenses are not allowed:

• services of a gardener or chauffeur
• attending kindergarten or a higher grade are not expenses for care
• food, clothing, education, and entertainment unless they are incident to and cannot be separated from the cost of caring for the qualified person
• cost of transportation for the care provider to come to your home or to go back and forth to the care location
• overnight camp