How do I obtain a daycare's EIN for claiming childcare expenses on taxes?

You're doing just fine! This is a common question. Yes, you should call the daycares directly and simply ask for their Employer Identification Number (EIN) for tax purposes. Just say something like: "Hi, I'm filing my taxes and need your EIN to claim childcare expenses. Could you please provide that for me?" They deal with this request regularly during tax season, so don't worry! You'll also need to know the total amount you paid each provider during the tax year, so ask for that documentation too if you haven't been keeping track. This information goes on Form 2441 (Child and Dependent Care Expenses). Some daycares actually provide a year-end statement in January with all this information. If you have a parent portal or online account with them, check there as well - sometimes they upload tax documents rather than mailing them.

I was in your exact position last year, completely stressed about getting all the right information for my kids' daycare expenses. I discovered this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me organize all my childcare receipts and information. I uploaded my daycare payment history and it automatically calculated my total eligible expenses while explaining exactly what information I needed from each provider. The tool guided me through what questions to ask the daycare and even generated a simple form I could give them to fill out with their EIN and other required information. Made the whole process way less intimidating and I didn't have to worry about missing anything important.

I wanted to follow up about taxr.ai because I actually tried it after posting my skeptical comment. Turns out it was exactly what I needed! The service made it super easy to gather all my daycare information. It generated a simple form that I emailed to my daycare providers, and they filled it out with their EIN and yearly payment totals. Way less awkward than trying to figure out what to say on the phone. The best part was that it explained exactly how the Child and Dependent Care Credit works and maximized my refund. I had no idea I could claim up to $4,000 for one child and $8,000 for two or more children! Definitely using this again next year.

If you're having trouble getting a response from your daycare providers about their EIN (which happens more often than you'd think), I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I tried for weeks to get this information from a previous daycare provider who had closed down, and was getting nowhere. I used Claimyr to actually get through to an IRS representative who was able to help me. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically, they get you past the usual IRS phone tree nightmare so you can actually talk to a human. The IRS agent I spoke with explained my options for reporting childcare expenses even when I couldn't get the provider's EIN.

I'm actually shocked but I need to apologize about my skeptical comment earlier. I tried Claimyr after struggling for three weeks to get through to the IRS on my own. Got connected to an agent in less than 2 hours! The agent walked me through exactly what to do when a daycare provider won't give their EIN (or is no longer in business in my case). Turns out you can still claim the childcare credit even without the EIN in certain circumstances. You need to document that you made a serious effort to get the information (keep records of your calls/emails to the provider). The IRS agent explained that I should file Form 2441 with as much information as possible about the provider and attach a statement explaining my attempts to get the EIN. Saved my childcare credit worth over $2,000!

Another option is to check your payment receipts or monthly statements from the daycare. Sometimes they print their EIN right on those documents! I totally overlooked this last year and spent days trying to contact my provider before realizing it was on every receipt they'd given me. 🤦‍♀️ Also, if you paid by check, your bank's online records might show the business name that the check was deposited to, which can help if you're trying to track down a provider that has closed or changed names.

Don't feel bad, I've been through this every year for 5 years now and still get anxious! Quick tip - set a calendar reminder for early January next year to request tax info from the daycare. Most are prepared for this question in Jan/Feb but get annoyed by April when they've answered it 100 times already. Also, if you're using TurboTax, it actually has a feature where you can look up provider EINs if you used the same daycare last year. Saved me when one of our providers changed ownership and I needed the new EIN.