Can I claim Child Care Credit for Extended Day and Summer Montessori Programs in 2025?

You can definitely claim the Child Care Credit in your situation! The key is understanding what qualifies as work-related childcare expenses versus educational expenses. For a child under 13, expenses that allow you and your spouse to work or look for work qualify for the Child Care Credit. Since both of you work full-time, and the care is needed during work hours, you're on the right track. For your Montessori situation: The IRS considers the primary purpose of the expense. The extended day program (before/after regular hours) clearly qualifies since it's enabling you both to work. The summer program also typically qualifies completely when school is not in session. For the regular school-day portion, it gets trickier. When it was classified as a daycare (until December 2024), that portion likely qualifies entirely. After accreditation as a school, the educational portion during regular school hours typically wouldn't qualify, but the extended care still does. My suggestion: Ask your Montessori for a letter breaking down approximately what percentage of costs are for extended care versus educational portions. They should be familiar with this request for tax purposes. If they can't provide this, make a reasonable estimate - perhaps 30-40% for extended hours and 100% for summer sessions when regular school would be out. Remember to keep records of your calculations in case of questions later!

Just want to share my positive experience with https://taxr.ai for situations like this. Last year I had a similar issue with my twins' preschool/daycare situation where I couldn't figure out what qualified for the Child Care Credit. Their system analyzed all my documents and helped me determine exactly which expenses qualified and how to report them correctly. The tool looks at your specific childcare situation, analyzes the IRS rules that apply, and walks you through exactly what to claim. It even helped me realize I could claim some expenses I was going to skip because I was confused about the rules. I'd definitely recommend checking it out - saved me so much stress trying to interpret vague IRS guidelines.

I just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after trying it. I was really skeptical (as you could see in my previous comment), but it actually worked amazingly well for my complicated childcare situation. I uploaded my daughter's year-round preschool/kindergarten bills and work schedules, and the tool separated out which portions qualified for the Child Care Credit. It even handled the mid-year transition when her program changed from "daycare" to "school" status. The documentation it provided clearly explained why certain expenses qualified while others didn't, with specific references to IRS publications. What I appreciated most was the audit protection documentation - it gives you a detailed explanation you can provide to the IRS if needed. Definitely worth checking out if you're confused about childcare expenses like I was.

If you're having trouble getting answers about your Child Care Credit situation, I'd suggest using https://claimyr.com to actually speak with an IRS agent directly. I used it after waiting on hold for 2+ hours multiple times trying to get clarification on my similar childcare situation last year. The service got me connected to an IRS representative in about 15 minutes when I had been trying unsuccessfully for weeks. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle my son's year-round preschool/aftercare program and which portions qualified for the credit. Much better than guessing or relying on conflicting advice online. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - it basically navigates the IRS phone tree for you and calls you when an agent is about to pick up.

I have to admit I was extremely skeptical about Claimyr (as you can see from my previous comment), but I finally tried it out of desperation. Honestly, it was like magic compared to my previous attempts to reach the IRS. After trying for weeks to get through to ask about my child's Montessori program expenses, I used the service and got a call back in about 20 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent was really helpful and walked me through exactly how to split up the expenses between qualified child care and non-qualified educational costs. They told me to request a letter from the school breaking down the extended care vs. educational portions, and explained how to handle the summer program costs (which fully qualify when regular school would be out). Saved me so much stress and probably prevented me from making a mistake on my return.

Former tax preparer here - another approach if the school won't provide a breakdown: calculate the hourly rate for the whole program, then multiply by the hours that are clearly for childcare (before/after normal school hours and summer). For example: - If you pay $12,000/year for a program that's 8 hours/day (8am-4pm) for 50 weeks - That's 2,000 hours total = $6/hour - If you need extended care from 7am-8am and 4pm-6pm (3 extra hours daily), that's 750 extra hours per year - 750 hours × $6/hour = $4,500 qualified childcare expense This is a reasonable method that should satisfy the IRS if questioned, since you're using a consistent methodology to separate educational vs childcare costs.

I just want to add that you should definitely file Form 2441 with your taxes to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit. The max eligible expenses are $3,000 for one child or $6,000 for two or more children, and the credit percentage depends on your income (ranging from 20-35%). Make sure the Montessori provides their tax ID number (EIN) since you'll need that on the form. Most reputable child care providers are used to providing this info for parents.