Babysitting and child care: HSA Eligibility

Babysitting and child care: reimbursement is not eligible with a Health Savings Account (HSA)
Babysitting and child care is not eligible for reimbursement with a flexible spending account (FSA), health savings account (HSA), health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) or a limited-purpose flexible spending account (LPFSA). However, babysitting, child care and nursing services for a healthy baby do not qualify as medical care, but may be covered under a dependent care flexible spending account (DCFSA) if specific requirements are met, including that the guardian(s) are enabled to be gainfully employed during the time a qualifying child is cared for, a full-time student(s) or searching for gainful employment.

How is babysitting/child care covered?

Consumer spending accounts, such as FSAs, HSAs, HRAs and others are designed to cover products and services that prevent, diagnose, treat or mitigate a specific medical condition with tax-free income, so babysitting and child care would not fall into this category. However, because child care expenses are such heavy burden for some families, dependent care flexible spending accounts are another option to give families a means of paying for child care with tax-free income.

How do DCFSAs work?

A DCFSA allows parents to put aside up to $5,000 (or $2,500 for married individuals filing separately) and are offered through employers for workers to use pre-tax income to cover a wide variety of child care expenses, including care by a nanny or daycare arrangements. By definition, a DCFSA allows parents or caregivers to pay for eligible expenses for a child under the age of 13, disabled spouse, elderly parent or any other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. In turn, this support must give the account holder or spouse (if married) the ability to work, look for work or go to school full-time (FSAFEDS).

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