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What is a Child Care Expense?

The thought of having a baby is very exciting. Parents do everything they possibly can to make sure that their children lead a very comfortable life from the start. However, it is to be noted that the amount of money needed to take care of a child is not small.

Child care expenses are increasing day by day. Some parents, if not all, find it difficult to make the ends meet. It is therefore necessary to plan everything properly and put aside the money that is required to take care of the child. It is very important that everything is provided for the child. However, when it is difficult to make ends meet, try to implement any one of the tips given below.

If you happen to have any relatives or friends who stay close to your place, you can always request them to babysit. Canadians are friendly people and even if you do not have any family members staying close by, you could always request you neighbors to help once in a while.

If the first option does not work for you, then you can look into child care centers. There are many such day care centers in Canada. However, this might not prove to be very economical. The cost depends on the facilities you will want for your child. Also, one always has the option of volunteering at such day care centers. This can be done whenever you have free time. This will help in bringing the costs down.

Another way of reducing child care expenses is to shift your office to your house. This way you can look after your child while working. However, this might not be possible in most cases.
One can also get together with all the families living in a neighborhood and start a crèche. This will be a good idea if there are a lot of small children in the neighborhood. This idea has been gaining a lot of popularity among the Canadians of late.

The government of Canada introduced the tax benefit scheme for child care expenses in the year 2008. Under this scheme, parents below a certain income group will be allowed to make claims for child care expenses. One can claim returns on the income tax for child care expenses if the child is in a day care center or a nursery or a day camp.

As mentioned earlier, people of the lower income group can make a claim for child care expenses after they produce a certificate given by the doctor. If in case the parents are separated and have a joint custody, they can both make separate claims for a portion each of the child care expense. The child will have to be less than 7 years of age and if you qualify to get tax exemption, you can get up to $7000 a year. So taking care of a child might not be all that difficult if you plan everything well and do everything right. What is a Child Care Expense?

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