Daycare refuses to provide year end tax statement

[redman24]

My ex and I used a daycare for our daughter in 2020, which is my year to claim our daughter (she claimed her last year). However my ex got the 2020 tax statement from the daycare before I asked for it. When I asked the daycare for the tax statement, they told me they'd already given it to my ex. My ex will not give me the daycare amount to claim, because she will be illegally claiming our daughter, in contrast with the parenting plan.
So I told the daycare that she won't give me the daycare amount, and also sent the court approved parenting plan to prove that I need the amount to claim on my taxes. The daycare insists on not talking to me since they already gave the amount to my ex.

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them? Can I report them to the IRS for this, or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to? Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

 

[Just Blue]

My ex and I used a daycare for our daughter in 2020, which is my year to claim our daughter (she claimed her last year). However my ex got the 2020 tax statement from the daycare before I asked for it. When I asked the daycare for the tax statement, they told me they'd already given it to my ex. My ex will not give me the daycare amount to claim, because she will be illegally claiming our daughter, in contrast with the parenting plan.
So I told the daycare that she won't give me the daycare amount, and also sent the court approved parenting plan to prove that I need the amount to claim on my taxes. The daycare insists on not talking to me since they already gave the amount to my ex.

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them? Can I report them to the IRS for this, or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to? Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

What state? Who pays the daycare? By that I mean who is the parent that actually hands the payment to the provider? Is the daycare included in the support order or is it paid separately? Who is the primary parent?

 

[Just Blue]

px hx

 

[adjusterjack]

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them?

No.

The amount YOU paid them? Where the heck are your records of payment? Cancelled checks? Receipts? No reason you can't total up what you paid so you can claim the deduction.

Can I report them to the IRS for this, or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to? Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

No, no, and no.

If you and your ex both claim the deduction, that's when the IRS will get involved and you'll both have to deal with it. The care people have nothing to do with it any more.

 

[redman24]

What state? Who pays the daycare? By that I mean who is the parent that actually hands the payment to the provider? Is the daycare included in the support order or is it paid separately? Who is the primary parent?

State is Tennessee. By agreement, the daycare accepted half of all costs from me, half from my ex. I don't have all the receipts that I received from them.

 

[Just Blue]

State is Tennessee. By agreement, the daycare accepted half of all costs from me, half from my ex. I don't have all the receipts that I received from them.

Figure out what weeks/months you are missing and ask for copies.

 

[adjusterjack]

By agreement, the daycare accepted half of all costs from me, half from my ex.

Has nothing to do with the tax situation between you and your ex.

I don't have all the receipts that I received from them.

Did you pay by check? Your checking account online will have the records.

Figure out what weeks/months you are missing and ask for copies.

From who? The ex? Already not cooperating. The day care? Already not cooperating.

 

[Just Blue]

Has nothing to do with the tax situation between you and your ex.



Did you pay by check? Your checking account online will have the records.



From who? The ex? Already not cooperating. The day care? Already not cooperating.

The daycare doesn't want to give him a tax statement...they would probably give him copies of his receipts if he asked nicely.

 

[Taxing Matters]

My ex and I used a daycare for our daughter in 2020, which is my year to claim our daughter (she claimed her last year).

Ok, so it's your year to be able to claim the child as your dependent on your income tax return. Very generally it is the custodial parent (CP) who is able to claim the child as his/her dependent. The custodial parent for tax purposes is generally the parent with whom the child lived for more than half the year which you determine by counting the number of nights the child spent with each parent. The other parent is the noncustodial parent (NCP). So which are you, the CP or the NCP, i.e. did the kid spend more nights of 2020 with your or with your ex?

In the case of parents who are divorced or separated, however, the NCP may claim the child as his/her dependent if the CP signs a waiver in which the CP agrees not to claim the child and releases the dependent exemption to the NCP. IRS Form 8332 may be used for that waiver. The NCP must then attach that waiver to his/her tax return. So while the court order allows the NCP to claim the exemption, the NCP still needs to get that waiver from the CP. A well written court order/agreement will expressly require the CP to provide that. If the court order/agreement does not say that then the NCP ends up having to go through a few more hoops to get the court to enforce the order to get waiver he/she needs.

But here's the critical thing to understand for your situation: there are some child related tax benefits that a NCP may claim when he/she is able to get that waiver and claim the kid as a dependent and some tax benefits that do not shift to the NCP even though the NCP has that waiver. The child and dependent care expense credit is a tax benefit that the NCP may NOT claim even though the NCP has the waiver and may claim the kid as his her dependent. See IRS Publication 503.

What all this means to you is that you must be the CP here to claim the child and dependent expense care credit. Even if you get the waiver (Form 8332) from the ex, you still can't claim that credit. Only the CP — your ex — can claim that credit because she's the CP. So in this case, you don't need to get a copy of that statement from the daycare provider because you can't take the credit anyway.

On the other hand, if you are the CP, there is nothing she can do to prevent you from claiming the credit. Claim the credit and if she also takes the same credit the IRS will contact you both after the returns are matched to figure out which parent gets it. Once you show you were the CP you would get it and she'd lose, having to repay the credit, the interest, and perhaps a penalty too. If you are the CP and entitled to the credit, then you do need to have the total expenses that YOU paid. So the statement given by the provider that likely shows the total paid by both you and your ex may not be helpful here. You need to keep records of this stuff both in order to prepare your return correctly and to back up your return should the IRS audit you concerning the credit. So you may have to simply limit the amount you use to claim the credit to the expenses that you can prove.

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them? Can I report them to the IRS for this, or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to? Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

The answer to all those is no for the simple reason that there is no requirement in the tax code requiring a daycare provider to provide you any statement of the amounts you paid for child care.

Again, you have to keep good records of what you paid yourself — cancelled checks, receipts, etc. That's what you use to figure your credit, assuming you are the CP.

 

[LdiJ]

My ex and I used a daycare for our daughter in 2020, which is my year to claim our daughter (she claimed her last year). However my ex got the 2020 tax statement from the daycare before I asked for it. When I asked the daycare for the tax statement, they told me they'd already given it to my ex. My ex will not give me the daycare amount to claim, because she will be illegally claiming our daughter, in contrast with the parenting plan.
So I told the daycare that she won't give me the daycare amount, and also sent the court approved parenting plan to prove that I need the amount to claim on my taxes. The daycare insists on not talking to me since they already gave the amount to my ex.

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them? Can I report them to the IRS for this, or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to? Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

Ok, you should be aware that it is possible that you are not legally allowed to claim the daycare credit.

The only person who can claim a daycare credit is the person who has primary custody of the child, under the IRS definition of custody. You could be paying 100% of the child care costs but not be legally allowed to claim the credit.

The IRS's definition of the custodial parent is the person whose house the child sleeps at the most. (there are exceptions to that but they are rare).

The IRS does not care what your court orders say.

Child tax attributes are as follows:

Head of Household: May only be claimed by the parent with primary custody under the IRS's definition.
Child Tax Credit: Either parent as long as the parent with primary custody gives the other parent a signed form 8332.
Earned Income Credit: May only be claimed by the parent with primary custody under the IRS's definition.
Education Credits: Either parent as long as the parent with primary custody gives the other parent a signed form 8332 and that parent is also claiming the child as a dependent.
Daycare Credit: May only be claimed by the parent with primary custody under the IRS's definition.

 

[adjusterjack]

The daycare doesn't want to give him a tax statement...they would probably give him copies of his receipts if he asked nicely.

You must be wearing your rose colored glasses.

 

[Just Blue]

You must be wearing your rose colored glasses.

Don't be dissing my shades!

 

[davew9128]

Ok, so it's your year to be able to claim the child as your dependent on your income tax return. Very generally it is the custodial parent (CP) who is able to claim the child as his/her dependent.

Which is the only thing that matters here. Only the custodial parent can claim the dependent care credit. Period. As others have stated.

As for "reporting them to the IRS", get over yourself. Seriously. Try acting like a mature adult and you might actually get what you're asking for.

 

[zddoodah]

Is it illegal for the daycare to withhold the tax statement from me for the amount I paid them?

No.

Can I report them to the IRS for this

You can report anyone to anyone. I can assure you that, if you were to do this, the IRS would do nothing.

or give any other legal threats to coerce them to give me the tax statement I am entitled to?

We have no way of knowing what threats might work with this unknown daycare provider in an unidentified state (not that identifying a state would make a difference).

Is there any tax code that declares they have to give the amount?

No.

Your recourse is against your ex.