Can I Claim Children - Who I Do Not Get Paid For?

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

I have a niece and nephew who I provide care for occasionally, as drop ins. I do not get paid for them when they are here, but I still provide meals, snacks, drinks, craft materials, etc obviously. Should I still count them in my meal counts and time/space percentage, even if they are sometimes here when I do not have other children? I have only part timers, so some days I only have one child, and sometimes I have none. I consider them "enrolled" as drop ins since I cannot have more than five children at one time and if I am full that day they cannot come. But since they are related, I wasn't sure if I should have been counting them when they were here during 2015 or if I should continue not counting them.

[TomCopeland]

food

I have a niece and nephew who I provide care for occasionally, as drop ins. I do not get paid for them when they are here, but I still provide meals, snacks, drinks, craft materials, etc obviously. Should I still count them in my meal counts and time/space percentage, even if they are sometimes here when I do not have other children? I have only part timers, so some days I only have one child, and sometimes I have none. I consider them "enrolled" as drop ins since I cannot have more than five children at one time and if I am full that day they cannot come. But since they are related, I wasn't sure if I should have been counting them when they were here during 2015 or if I should continue not counting them.

Since you do not get paid for caring for relatives, you can't count food expenses (or any other expenses) associated with them. Don't count hours when they are the only children in your home. It's a personal relationship.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear I did it right

[BarbInMich]

If I charge a fee for related children, can I claim the time that they are here when regular daycare kids are not here?

It is at a cheaper rate than what I charge regular daycare families. Would that still count?

Thank you.

[TomCopeland]

fees

If I charge a fee for related children, can I claim the time that they are here when regular daycare kids are not here?

It is at a cheaper rate than what I charge regular daycare families. Would that still count?

Thank you.

When caring for related children you need to be more careful about what hours to count. If the children were not related, you could count hours they were in your home while you were not being paid (evenings, overnight, weekends) because that would be considered part of the service you are providing. But, that wouldn't work for a related child because when you stop getting paid for a related child, it reverts back to a personal relationship. So, I wouldn't count time when related children are in your home and you are not being paid for that time.

[BarbInMich]

Thank you Tom. That makes a lot of sense. I have 2 nieces that I get paid for and have been claiming them, so I'm glad I haven't been doing it wrong.