Has anyone filed Form 2441 with a caregiver refusing to provide SSN? Will this delay my refund?

This is actually a common issue with childcare providers who may be working under the table. You have a few options here: First, try explaining to your babysitter that she's legally required to provide her SSN or EIN if she's providing childcare services for which you're claiming the credit. Maybe show her the form or IRS guidelines to make it more official. Sometimes providers don't understand this is a legitimate requirement. If she still refuses, you can file Form W-10 (Dependent Care Provider's Identification and Certification) and give it to her. This makes the request more formal. Keep a copy showing you attempted to get the information. If all else fails, you can still claim the credit without her SSN by completing Form 2441 as usual, but write "REFUSED" in the space for the caregiver's SSN. The IRS understands this happens, but be prepared - this will likely trigger a manual review of your return and could delay your refund by several weeks or more. Don't make up a number! That's definitely fraud and will cause much bigger problems down the road.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year with my son's after-school sitter! It was so frustrating trying to explain why I needed her info. What helped me was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to analyze my situation. I uploaded my draft return and some documentation, and they explained exactly what I needed to do about the missing SSN situation. They confirmed I could use "REFUSED" on the form and gave me specific language to use when explaining the situation to the IRS if questioned. They even showed me how to document my payment history properly to support the claim. The peace of mind was totally worth it since I was worried about delays or getting in trouble for something that wasn't my fault.

Just wanted to update that I ended up trying taxr.ai after reading the suggestions here. I was really unsure about my childcare situation with my nephew's girlfriend watching my kids. The service actually saved me a lot of headache! They confirmed I could write "REFUSED" but also suggested I document everything meticulously. They explained that the credit was still valid even without the SSN as long as I could prove the expenses were legitimate. Their documentation guidelines were super helpful - I wouldn't have thought to save some of those records. My return was accepted with just a 3-week delay, which wasn't bad considering I was expecting much worse! The peace of mind was definitely worth it.

I had a similar issue last year with my home daycare provider. After trying for weeks to get her tax info, I realized my refund was going to be seriously delayed waiting for the IRS to process my incomplete form. I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually speak with an IRS agent about my options. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Before using it, I'd been calling the IRS for DAYS with no luck - just endless hold music or disconnections. Claimyr got me through to a real person who confirmed I could use "REFUSED" and explained exactly what documentation I needed to keep in case of questions. The agent also told me what to expect timeline-wise and noted my account so there was a record of me trying to resolve this proactively.

I have to apologize and update my comment. After dismissing Claimyr as a scam, I was getting desperate about my own tax situation (not childcare related, but I needed to talk to someone at the IRS about a missing 1099-R). I decided to try it as a last resort. I'm shocked to admit it actually worked. Got a call back in about 40 minutes with an IRS agent already on the line. The agent answered my questions and even helped me resolve an unrelated issue with my account. Completely worth it for the time saved. Sometimes being wrong on the internet is a good thing, I guess. To the original poster: Based on what the agent told me about other issues, your refund will likely be delayed by 4-6 weeks when you use "REFUSED" on Form 2441, but only because they need to manually review that specific form, not your entire return.

I've been doing taxes for family members for years and run into this issue quite often. Here's what I've learned: If you're paying someone regularly for childcare, it's worth having a simple contract from the beginning that states they'll provide their tax information. Makes things much clearer. For your current situation, using "REFUSED" is the proper approach, but there's another angle to consider. Your caregiver might be worried about reporting income. You could offer to pay a slightly higher rate to help cover their self-employment taxes if that's their concern. Sometimes it's just about having that conversation. Also, starting in 2026, the IRS is planning stricter enforcement around the Child and Dependent Care Credit documentation, so this issue will only get more important in the future.

This whole thing just shows how broken our tax system is. Why should regular people have to jump through all these hoops just to claim a legitimate credit? The government wants people to work but makes childcare expenses complicated to claim. And then we have to chase down sitters and babysitters for their personal info which makes everyone uncomfortable. I had the same issue with my mom's caregiver. Ended up writing "REFUSED" and my refund was delayed by 2 months! That's ridiculous. The IRS should have a better system for this by now.

I'm dealing with this exact situation right now! My daycare provider gave me her business name but refuses to provide her EIN, saying she "handles her own taxes." I've been going back and forth with her for weeks. What's frustrating is that I'm trying to do everything by the book, but these providers make it so difficult. I understand they might be concerned about tax implications on their end, but legally they're supposed to provide this information if we're claiming the credit. Has anyone had success explaining to their caregiver that providing the SSN/EIN doesn't automatically mean the IRS will audit them or cause problems? I'm wondering if there's a way to reassure her that this is just standard tax documentation. I really don't want to lose a good daycare provider over this, but I also don't want to miss out on a significant tax credit that I'm entitled to claim.

I went through this exact situation two years ago with my son's after-school sitter. She was adamant about not providing her SSN, and I was really stressed about potentially losing my refund. Here's what I learned: You absolutely can write "REFUSED" in the SSN field on Form 2441, and the IRS does understand this happens frequently. However, be prepared for your refund to be delayed - mine took about 6 weeks longer than usual to process because it triggered a manual review. The key thing is documentation. Keep everything - text messages about payments, your bank records showing cash withdrawals, calendar entries showing care dates, anything that proves you actually paid for legitimate childcare services. I also wrote a brief letter explaining the situation and attached it to my return, though I'm not sure if that helped or not. One thing that might work with your babysitter: explain that you're not reporting her to anyone or getting her in trouble. The IRS just needs to match up your claimed expenses with a real person/business. Maybe offer to show her the actual form so she can see it's just basic information, not some kind of investigation. But honestly? If she's being this difficult about basic tax requirements, you might want to start looking for a new childcare arrangement for next year. Most legitimate providers understand this is part of the deal when parents claim the credit.

I'm currently dealing with this same issue! My nanny has been watching my two kids for almost a year and I just realized I need her SSN for my taxes. When I brought it up, she got really defensive and said she "doesn't mix personal information with work." Reading through all these responses has been super helpful. I think I'm going to try the approach someone mentioned about showing her the IRS publication that explains it's a legal requirement. Maybe if she sees it's not just me being nosy, she'll be more understanding. The "REFUSED" option is good to know about as a backup plan. I was panicking thinking I'd lose the entire credit if I couldn't get her information. A 6-week delay isn't great but it's better than losing thousands of dollars in tax credits. Has anyone had luck offering to help their caregiver understand the tax implications on their end? Like maybe explaining that they can deduct business expenses or something? I'm wondering if her reluctance is coming from not understanding how to handle the income reporting rather than just being difficult.