DEPENDENT CHILD CARE FSA:

Tax-free dollars deposited into an employee spending account

Claims are processed biweekly, on or around each paycheck by MedCom Benefits in Jacksonville, Florida.

Eligible expenses must have been incurred during the plan year and a claim must be filed within 90 days after the end of the plan year.

You can be reimbursed only the amount that has been set aside year-to-date in the plan year. Unlike the Medical FSA, your Child Care FSA reimbursement cannot exceed your year-to-date balance.

Eligible expenses must have been incurred during the plan year and claims must be filed by March 31st of the year following the plan year in which the expenses were incurred.

Claim forms must be faxed to MedCom at 1-866-598-7800.

Plan Rules and Guidelines

Benefit Enhancement

Section 126 of IRC 1125 allows employees to pay for care of dependents while increasing spendable income by electing to participate in your employer-sponsored Dependent Care Reimbursement account. IRC Section 126 was created by the Federal government to make benefits more affordable to you.

Electing to Participate

Should you elect to participate, you would elect a specified amount of pretax money to be reduced from your paycheck each period. These dollars are set aside in a reimbursement account and subtracted from your gross earnings before any taxes are calculated. When you submit a receipt for a qualifying dependent care expense, you will be reimbursed from the account up to the current balance in your account (contributions to-date less reimbursements to-date). When you contribute pretax dollars to a reimbursement account, you lower your taxable income; therefore, you pay less in taxes which increases spendable income.

Maximum Contributions

The Federal government has set these maximum allowable contributions for a dependent care flexible spending account. $5,000 for a married couple filing jointly, or a single parent, and $2,500 for a married person filing separately.

Qualifying Expenses

The dependent care must enable you and your spouse to be employed.

The amount to be reimbursed must not be greater than your spouse's income or one-half of your income whichever is less.

The child must be under 13 years old and must be your dependent under Federal tax rules. Note: If your child turns 13 during the plan year, reimbursements must stop. Your contributions, however, must continue throughout the plan year unless you have planned for this change when electing an annual amount at the beginning of the plan year.

The services may be provided in your home or another location but not by someone who is your minor child or your dependent for income tax purposes.

If the services are provided by a day care facility that cares for six or more children at the same time, the facility must comply with state and local day care regulations.

Services must be for the physical care of the child, not for education, meals, etc.

Additional qualified dependent care expenses also include costs for the care of a spouse or dependent who is incapable of self-care and regularly spends at least eight hours per day in your home. The same rules that apply for childcare apply to the care of other dependents, except that the dependent need not be under 13.

To comply with IRS requirements, you may only make a change in your election at the beginning of the plan year. The only exceptions to this rule are qualified changes in family or employment status, such as: