Monthly grocery budge for daycare only

[5 Little Monkeys]

To my knowledge, there are 2 ways to do your expenses. The formula (days open/total days in week x hours open/total hours in day x rooms used for dc/total rooms in house) OR if you have half of your space dedicated to daycare care use only. I have exactly half my house for daycare only (basement) so I am allowed to claim most expenses at 50%.

The first few years I did my groceries separate though and claimed 100%. It wasn't totally accurate however as I would usually buy the meat on my personal bill and I didn't claim a lot of meals since they were from our previous night's supper and I didn't know how to figure that out lol. I now buy my groceries all together and claim 50%. It's still not a true number since they don't eat steak and lobster like we do haha. (Altho, they eat a ton more fruit and veggies than we do so maybe it evens itself out over time?) However, it does work out to being more to claim which is what my accountant suggested to do. It's legal even though it's not completely accurate. It's no different than claiming my other bills 50% even though they aren't watching my tv or using my lights half the time either.

[crayolamom]

I just called revenue Canada about this and asked and they confirmed with me that it would be considered tax fraud?

[5 Little Monkeys]

I just called revenue Canada about this and asked and they confirmed with me that it would be considered tax fraud?

Interesting. So what did they say about the other bills that we claim 50% of? I would think it's no different?

[Lee-Bee]

I just called revenue Canada about this and asked and they confirmed with me that it would be considered tax fraud?

What did they offer as an alternative?

[babydom]

I never heard of claiming 50% of your groceries bills. Geese I've been doing it the long painful way for years. Hahaha. After every gorcery shop I underline or circle all the daycare foods then at the end of every month I take each receipt and add up all the circled items to have a monthly total....at the end of the year I add up those monthly totals and that's what I claim for yearly groceries. Although I'm lazy every month and usually end up going through all the receipts at the end of the year

[5 Little Monkeys]

I never heard of claiming 50% of your groceries bills. Geese I've been doing it the long painful way for years. Hahaha. After every gorcery shop I underline or circle all the daycare foods then at the end of every month I take each receipt and add up all the circled items to have a monthly total....at the end of the year I add up those monthly totals and that's what I claim for yearly groceries. Although I'm lazy every month and usually end up going through all the receipts at the end of the year

You can only claim 50% if you have half your house dedicated to dc space ONLY though. If you claim all your household bills as a percentage based on the formula than that is the percentage you would claim for groceries too. Or you could buy daycare groceries separately and claim 100% of it. That's what I used to do....would buy one box of crackers for dc on one bill and one for us on another bill. Now I just buy together and claim half (because half my house is dc ONLY)

[Artsand crafts]

From the total weekly food cost only 5 out of 7 days are taken into consideration for daycare. Only a portion of the food consumed during those 5 days kids are here are considered for daycare since they are not having dinner or breakfast here. Calculations are detailed in case a CRA audit. Last year it was from 36% to 45% of the total food cost for daycare, depending of the number of children under my care. I always file myself. For mortgage, services, etc I use number of rooms used divided by total number of rooms (Sq footage can also be used). Daycare areas are dedicated here. If they were shared for my personal use only a % based on the hours used for daycare should be considered.

[babydom]

I use my whole house for daycare not just half. I'm so glad I don't file taxes my self as all of this is way over my head. Lol

[mickyc]

I was told that because half of my home is designated for daycare that I claim 50percent of my expenses including food. For myself I would say it's pretty accurate. We eat out wayyyyyyy to much on the weekends. Lol

[crayolamom]

apparently when we shop it has to be on a separate bill because they said a family of 7 doesn't eat equivalent to 5 children who only get one weekly meal and snacks. If kids don't watch TV then we shouldn't be claiming cable as it has nothing do with your daycare. Hmmm?