<prompt> Human: My wife and I pay about 9500 a year for child care for our twin sons. They go to an in home certified daycare, and we are very happy with the provider. She loves our boys, they love her and the other kids. Thing is, she told us when we first started using her we could not write her off on our taxes. She said its a lot of extra paperwork on my end and it really doesnt save you that much money at tax time.We can only pay in cash, so the FSA through my wifes employer is useless to us as well for childcare. Again, she is registered and inspected by the state, so its not exactly under the table, but the way in which we pay sure feels like it is. What we pay is comparable with what other providers charge, so I dont feel like she is passing along the savings so to speak. My wife and I net about 85k a year, so I feel like us being able to deduct 9500 wouldnt be insignificant. How much work could it possibly be on her end, or is this a line? Weve already filed this year, and I dont think it would be in our childrens best interest to go somewhere else. But I cant help but be curious...  <response>: Shes following the law as far as state licensing goes, but shes not complying with federal tax law. If she doesnt want to do the extra paperwork she means she doesnt want to pay tax on that income. 