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1 (January 6, 2004)

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                                                               Order Code  RS21466
                                                            Updated January 6, 2004



 CRS Report for Congress

              Received through the CRS Web



      Dependent Care: Current Tax Benefits

                   and Legislative Issues

                             Christine Scott
                      Specialist in Tax Economics
                      Domestic Social Policy Division

Summary


     In the 2000 census, for over 60% of the households with children under 6, all
 parents in the household worked. For families with both parents working or a single
 working parent family, care for young children and individuals who are physically or
 mentally unable to care for themselves is critical to maintaining participation in the
 workforce. To assist these families current law provides two tax benefits related to
 dependent care: the dependent care credit and the exclusion from income for employer-
 provided dependent care assistance programs. Both provisions are for employment-
 related expenses for the care of dependents under the age of 13, or dependents (or a
 spouse) who are physically or mentally incapable of caring for themselves.

     Legislation has been introduced in the 108th Congress that would clarify the tax
 treatment of dependent care programs for military personnel (H.R. 878, H.R. 1307, H.R.
 1664, H.R. 3365, S. 19, S. 235, S. 289, and S. 351). H.R. 3365 passed both houses and
 was signed into law (P.L. 108-121) on November 11, 2003.

     Other legislation introduced in the 108th Congress would eliminate the 2010 sunset
 for the dependent care provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax  Relief
 Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA, P.L. 107-16) (H.R. 210, H.R. 407, H.R. 493, H.R. 1612,
 and S. 96): make the credit refundable (H.R. 493); expand the credit (H.R. 181, H.R.
 936, H.R. 3666, S. 388, S. 448, and S. 1253); simplify the calculation of the credit
 (H.R. 22); or provide a uniform definition of a child (H.R. 22, H.R. 936, H.R. 2392,
 H.R. 2718, S. 448, S. 755, S. 1173, S. 1174, and S. 1434). This report will be updated
 as legislative activity warrants.


 Current  Tax  Benefits  for Dependent Care

    There are two current law tax provisions for dependent care: the dependent care tax
credit (DCTC) and the exclusion from income for employer-provided dependent care
assistance programs (DCAP). Both provisions use the same definitions of qualified
employment related expenses and qualifying dependents.



       Congressional  Research  Service + The Library of Congress

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