Deducting the food cost...not quite sure

I am new here and need your advise greatly.
How do you deduct the food cost for income tax..do you go by per idem or have other ways?
I would go by per dime,but could not find more info about it anywhere.:(
Thanks for your help.

I personally go through all receipts and add up all dc items, food etc

I do it 2 ways. on my regular grocery shops I just tally up all receipts and do 50% daycare. This year I have a little over $4000 for groceries as a daycare expense. Then there are the quick trips that I bought things specifically for daycare and got them put through the till first with my other items at the end of the receipt. Those things I claim 100% of. That isn't just groceries though but other items like toys, supplies etc. I have over $5500 to deduct in those items.

I have been doing it this way....I buy all daycare groceries and supplies separately and claim 100% of that.

However, it gets uneven because I often give them our leftovers and things like kleenax/toilet paper/paper towel etc I was adding on to the dc bills every now and than but probably not as often as I should have.

So this year I am doing it differently. I am doing it like Mickyc, I will buy everything together and claim half of it. Toys and anything else that is solely dc only I will claim 100%.

I buy dc groceries with my families, so my accountant suggested using a $ amount. I started with $7/child/day, but after seeing how much our bills were and based on what I serve the dck's, I bumped it up to $8.

I was told that if you use your whole house for daycare and have to use the formula to find the percentage that you can write off household bills for than you would need to use a dollar amount/per day/per child and keep a record of how many snacks and meals you have provided over the year.

If you use half your home for dc only than you can claim 50% of household bills and groceries.

This is what accountants and other hdcp's have told me so I would suggest asking your accountant which way is best for you.

I go through all my receipts and take out anything definitely not daycare related, such as toiletries, etc. All food gets counted because the kids eat what we eat which is anything from blackened catfish to lasagna and everything in between. I tally up all the food and the accountant has a formula that reflects the percentage used by the daycare children based on the number of meals/ week they're here.

I am done taxes !!!!! Yay broke even ! I don't have a clue if that's good or not !!!! They calculated the food ($3500 for 4 months) as each full time child was $6 per day which included snack . Ended up as $1500 for dayhome food expenses . Which seems right , I have a big family and often feed the masses !!!
Just glad it's done !!!!

Breaking even is what you want!! Waaaayyyyy better than owing!!! Which is what I have to do :( lol

I know that every year I pay but it's not necessarily taxes. Even if my net is below my personal allowance I'll always still have to pay something as everyone has to pay CPP.

I am SO bad. I only filed my 2010 & 2011 taxes last year because I got 30 days notice to do so. I have also just received 30 days notice for my 2012 so gonna get those filed within the next month. 2012 I was full for 11 months so I know I will owe about $3500 for that year including CPP but 2013 my gross was super low so I'm hoping things will balance out and my hubby will fingers crossed get a rebate large enough to cover my bill to CRA...this is really bad practice I know but at this point I intend to go to school Sept 2015 so Ill only have to file a couple more years and then it won't be such a big job...even bigger because I procrastinate. Plus my accountants bill was huge last year because they had to rush filing it and there were multiple years to go through. I am my own worst enemy lol

Yes, every year we will owe the CP. I think this year I had to pay just over $600 for CP but total owing is just over $2100 plus whatever my EI will be....ugh!!! lol

First year for me doing taxes and such helpful info. I'm just about to get the calculator out to figure out my food bill- I like the 50% idea because I have had a different # of children here almost every month and it sounds like a nightmare to calculate meals per child!!