Unused dependent care fsa

[ncat]

Maybe this should be a bitching post. We contributed until mid June and used very little of ours. I was out of work from Jan 2 - the beginning of March, so my boys were only in aftercare about two weeks when everything shut down. Every single summer camp we had signed up for ended up canceled. I was able to book a few half day camps. It didn't make sense to book a babysitter this summer since DD (high schooler) was home too. I am not sure what to do - its upsetting to just let the money go though I know I shouldjust be thankfulwe are gainfullyemployed and healthy. Is anyone else in a similar position?

[PunkyBoo]

By April, when it was clear DS2 would not be returning to after care at school because I was suddenly working full time from home for the foreseeable future, I contacted my HR to inquire. 2 days later, they announced that the contributions could be modified due to the pandemic. So we stopped contributing beyond the amount we'd already spent. I would contact your HR and/or the FSA provider. It's unreasonable that they'd expect you to lose money due to the pandemic you could not have foreseen.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using Tapatalk

[ncat]

I have been pushing DH to call his HR - hopefully he will do it. This is another of those times I wish we'd opted to do benefits through my work.

I wrote our congress woman and senators tonight. It does appear that some related legislation was introduced in the senate - https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-...nate-bill/4372 - but no action since July. This is maddening.

[AnnieW625]

Yep! And of course it was the year that Dh turned his in and the HR person said he should do the max of $400 a month and I had already turned mine in at $200 a month as well, and then DH’s HR said it couldn’t be changed. We paid for summer camp for 8 weeks, and 3 months of full time care, but we still only paid about $3200 in total costs. If I added things up correctly we have an used portion of just about $4,000. I did notice when I was doing my taxes for 2019 that there was line for if you had any left over DCA money left over to put it there. We have never ran into this before so I have no idea what will happen.

We most likely won’t need much of a rollover for 2021 as nothing is open and we most likely won’t need after school care. We will probably do some sort of summer camp, but I don’t know what yet and I am sure $4000 would be more than enough if we did get a roll over. We did not elect to do DCA for 2021.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[echoesofspring]

ugh! I realized last week that I had never turned my contribution off when I meant to in April. Fortunately our 6 weeks of camp this summer plus afterschool care came out to just what we had contributed but I had a fit of rage at myself when I started to look at it so I totally understand how frustrated you must be! There must be thousands of people in a similar boat, our benefits dept was not proactive about communicating that the pandemic qualified as a life event you could make changes during until parents started asking so I'm guessing a lot of people didn't know (or like me, meant to and forgot in the craziness of adjusting to distance learning etc in the spring) - it would be great if they made an exception for this year to be able to roll it over.

I didn't contribute anything for 2021, it feels unlikely we'll do aftercare again (we were already wondering if we were growing out of it since I WFH adn we had started after school activities) and who knows what next summer brings.

[ged]

I realized this a couple of months ago and my HR still hasn't canceled my contributions, despite my asking. At this rate, it's not going to happen on their end. I am also really upset. Apparently some legislation went into effect around May (?) allowing employers to tell their employees they can change their contributions mid year. But my employer never passed the news along to their employees. I guess it was "optional" so maybe my employer didn't allow it? With no email, I was so wrapped up with everything else this did not come across my mind as something I need to look into. Not until a few months ago, and apparently it's too late.

I am sure there are many of us in this situation. Something has to be done, no?? Ugh.

[gymnbomb]

I had no problem using mine up since my youngest went back to daycare in August, but I have seen this as a common problem on other boards too. Many people were finding a way to pay a friend or family member on the books so the money would not be wasted. While anything is possible, I would assume the money is use it or lose it as usual.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk