Grocery Shopping/Taxes

[Country Kids]

Really wanted to see how everyone else does this so I posted under the general area.

How do you guys seperate daycare food on your grocery bills? In the past I had a business account but let it go when I wasn't doing full-time care. It was mainly for my food check to keep it seperate when they used to do hard checks to you not direct deposit.

Fast forward to when I signed up for food program-they do direct deposit. Well its just messing me up with receipts and getting hubby to understand how I need to have it done. He does all the food shopping (long story and started off for good reason) but he won't seperate all the food from each other so trying to go through the receipts is just a mess.

How do you wonderful ladies all do it?

[Mom&Provider]

I don't separate either, but I do highlight all the items on my recp't when I get home that are daycare before I forget which ones were for what!

We do our own taxes here too, so it makes it easier at the end of the year vs having to ring through two different grocery bills at the busy store!

[littlemissmuffet]

There is no food program offered in Canada but groceries used for daycare is still a tax write-off. Thankfully I don't have to seperate daycare food from family food, we simply estimate that about 60% of our yearly food cost total is for daycare.

When I do a large shop at say walmart for both household and daycare items, I put everything up at the till that is for daycare first and ask the cashier to subtotal the amount (with taxes) BEFORE including my personal/household items to the bill... this way, I know how much I spent on daycare, how much I spent total and I still only have to do one transaction! This might work for your hubby?

[butterfly]

My first two years of doing daycare, I kept track of actual grocery expenses by highlightening the reciepts and entering the info into a spreadsheet type program. After talking with my tax accountant, it was much better for me to just use the standard meal deduction by figuring how many meals I served for the year. Ever since, I haven't worried about receipts or keeping anything separate - for food. It's saved me many hours of my time!

[Country Kids]

My first two years of doing daycare, I kept track of actual grocery expenses by highlightening the reciepts and entering the info into a spreadsheet type program. After talking with my tax accountant, it was much better for me to just use the standard meal deduction by figuring how many meals I served for the year. Ever since, I haven't worried about receipts or keeping anything separate - for food. It's saved me many hours of my time!

Can you do this on the food program though? I was thinking you had to itemize it out so they knew if you needed to be taxed on remaining income if you didn't spend all food check money or more of a write off if you went over the check amounts.

[itlw8]

I tracked it and found I come out better using the standard food deduction

Because of this I no longer seperate the food. If food is used in a project like our gingerbread houses I do put that under activites. All the other things like paper towels ond TP I either use T/S or fiqure percentage of use. I have 10 children in care but only dh and I now in the house so the dc uses more tp than we do

[butterfly]

Our food program pays off a set rate for each meal served. They don't even know what our expenses are for food.

Where are you located? I thought the food program was a federal program, basically the same for everyone....

[itlw8]

Can you do this on the food program though? I was thinking you had to itemize it out so they knew if you needed to be taxed on remaining income if you didn't spend all food check money or more of a write off if you went over the check amounts.

You claim the check as income. ( It is ALL taxed as income but is off set by the food deduction) then take the standard deduction for the food expense. remember you can claim the extra snacks or meals that you are not paid for on the food program.

do not quote me on this but if your children are reimbursed on the food program because of your income that money is not taxable as income and their food is also not deductable. Double check that I know Tom has written about it.