<prompt> Human: I know its late and we procrastinated once again on our taxes, also Im not sure if this is the place to post this but I read PF all the time Im a big lurker and know how helpful this group is. So here it goes, we had our first child in 2014, I returned to work March 1, 2015. During my maternity leave I found a nice lady who posted on FB her in home position. We met and had discussed rates previously. We paid her by check, biweekly; she kept our child along with her children at her home. Now comes tax time, we learn about the child care tax credit. I asked her for her social and she claims that we shouldve discussed with her previously that we were going to claim her and she didnt report it as income. Where Im confused is, do I just lose out on this credit which could reduce our tax liability because I failed to discuss this with her? There are so many different view points online ha I know Im asking on Reddit, that I dont know what is the right thing to do. She says I shouldve given her a W-2 and a W-10 by Jan.31st for the previous year. I see her point however am saddened that we will lose out on legitimate child care expenses. Is it not worth pursuing? I would love to hear thoughts, advice and maybe a breakdown of what Im responsible for providing to her if I want to claim child care expenses. Thank you in advance!  <response>: If shes watching them in her house, then its likely she wasnt your household employee. Thats good news for you as the burden to claim income falls on her. A Tax pro would be better equipped to answer that. Typically with this kind of arrangement you would be clear from the outset if payments would be under the table or not, obviously that wasnt spelled out. You could push the issue, but youll probably end up looking for a new care provider. Also consider that the rate may have been lower - enough to offset your tax benefit - under this arrangement. The care provider is in the wrong here, but you need to ask yourself if 600 or so is worth the hassle of finding a new provider. 