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Hi, I am wondering if I can write off the mileage to take FD to/from her visits? They are court-ordered and it's about a 25 mile round trip from our house, so it will add up to be a significant number of miles. Also, any other things I should be thinking of writing off or keeping records of? We've had FD since last March, so we're well over the 6 month mark. Also, we paid over $4500 out of pocket for preschool/childcare. I do plan to write that off. We are not in this for the money, but our out of pocket expenses do exceed the stipend, so it would be helpful to write off whatever we can. Thanks in advance. I did search the boards for tax info, but some of it is old and I know some things have changed and I'm a little short on time these days for some cute little reason. :D
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Does your state reimburse your mileage for visits, doctor appointments, court, etc? Ours does here if our trips exceed 15 miles. But some states consider the stipend received to be part of the reimbursement of extra expenses such as mileage, clothing, etc. For example, our state considers trips less than 15 miles to be part of the normal stipend amount. (Those above that are reimbursed.) So no, you would not be able to "write off" the mileage. As it is considered that you are getting "reimbursed" for that in your monthly stipend. But keep in mind, you are also not including the stipend in income either.
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I found this: Charitable Contribution As long as you have a foster child in your care, you should keep detailed receipts for everything you spend in caring for that child. This should include basic living expenses, school expenses, extracurricular activities and any other expense that has been incurred to care for the child. At the end of the year, determine the total amount you spent to care for the child. Compare this amount to the total reimbursement payment you received from the state or foster care agency. If the total cost of items spent in the care for this child is more than the reimbursement received, the remainder can be deducted as a charitable contribution.
Yes, IF your agency does not reimburse for your mileage.I will tell you that DH and I kept a VERY detailed record of exactly how many miles we drove in 2011 because our agency does not reimburse mileage. We kept 2 logs...1 for mileage for medical appointments and one for mileage for visits. Visits are considered a charitable deduction and you can claim 14 cents/mile. For medical it must be a child you can claim as a dependent and you can claim 19 cents/mile (Jan 1 to June 30) or 23.5 cents/mile (July 1 to Dec 31).We had 2500 non medical miles and about 2600 medical miles. It didn't help us much. We didn't have enough medical expenses to get us to 7.5% of our AGI, so we claimed all our foster child miles as a charitable deduction at 14 cents/mile, so it was a $714 charitable contribution to our agency.[url]http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf[/url] (page 5)[url]http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf[/url] (medical mileage on 1st page)
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JessicaBaker
In my understanding you either claim the child as a dependent (in which case you can't claim anything else) or else you don't claim them as a dependent but any monies spent on them above and beyond your reimbursed per diem can be considered charitable deductions.
irs.gov
Foster parents. You may be able to deduct as a charitable contribution some of the costs of a foster parent (foster care provider) if have no profit motive in providing the foster care and are not, in fact, making a profit. A qualified organization must designate the individuals you take into your home for foster care. You can deduct expenses that meet both of the following requirements. 1. They are unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses to feed, clothe, and care for the foster child. 2. They must be mainly to benefit the qualified organization. Unreimbursed expenses that you cannot deduct as charitable contributions may be considered support provided by you in determining whether you can claim the foster child as a dependent. For details, see Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.
ImpactingLives is 100% correct. Read her response carefully, everything in it is important, especially the part about whether the child's goal is adoption by you. In your case, since the child has been with you since March, she is most likely your qualifying child (not qualifying relative) and that makes the end of her post a little easier for you. Make sure you keep your receipts well! You will have to prove the amount you're claiming if you're audited.