No, daycares are not required to provide tax statements. The IRS does not mandate any year-end form or annual summary from childcare providers to parents. To claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit, though, you do need four pieces of information from your provider: their name, address, taxpayer identification number, and the total you paid during the year.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit Getting that information is on you, not the daycare.
What You Need to Collect
IRS Form 2441 is where the credit is claimed, and it asks for the following for every person or organization that provided care during the year:2Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 2441
- The provider’s full legal name and complete address.
- The provider’s Taxpayer Identification Number. For an individual such as a nanny or in-home sitter, that’s usually a Social Security Number or ITIN. For a daycare center or other organization, it’s the Employer Identification Number.
- The total amount you actually paid the provider during the tax year, including any amounts your employer paid to a third party on your behalf. Do not subtract reimbursements.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2441 (2025)
One exception. If your provider is a tax-exempt organization such as a church or nonprofit school, you only need its name and address. Write “Tax-Exempt” where Form 2441 asks for the TIN.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit
How to Request the Information
Since the daycare has no obligation to send anything on its own, ask. The cleanest way is to hand your provider IRS Form W-10, Dependent Care Provider’s Identification and Certification. The provider completes Part I with their name, address, and TIN, signs it, and returns it to you.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-10, Dependent Care Provider’s Identification and Certification You can download it from irs.gov.
Form W-10 is not the only acceptable proof. The IRS also accepts any of the following as evidence that you identified your provider:
- A copy of the provider’s Social Security card.
- A letter or invoice on the provider’s business letterhead.
- A statement from your employer’s dependent care plan.
- A completed Form W-4 if the provider is your household employee.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-10, Dependent Care Provider’s Identification and Certification
Keep whichever document you collect with your tax records. Any of these satisfies the due diligence standard the IRS applies when checking that you made a real effort to obtain the required information. Many daycare centers already prepare a year-end receipt with their name, address, EIN, and the annual total on it as a courtesy. If yours does, that’s usually enough on its own. If it doesn’t, ask, and use Form W-10 if the answer isn’t immediate.
When a Provider Won’t Give You a TIN
Some providers, especially informal or in-home sitters, refuse to share a Social Security Number. That does not kill your credit. You can still claim it, but you have to show the IRS that you tried:
- On Form 2441, fill in everything you do have, at minimum the provider’s name and address.
- In the columns where information is missing, write “See Attached Statement.”
- Attach a separate statement to your return explaining that you requested the information and the provider refused to provide it.2Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 2441
This is where a lot of parents give up on the credit unnecessarily. A missing TIN is not the end of the claim; the IRS built a specific path for this situation.5Internal Revenue Service. Child and Dependent Care Credit and Flexible Benefit Plans 3
It can also help to know, and to mention, that a care provider who refuses to give a correct TIN faces a $50 penalty per failure under federal regulations, unless the failure is due to reasonable cause. Tax-exempt organizations are not subject to this penalty.6eCFR. 26 CFR 301.6723-1 – Failure to Comply With Other Information Reporting Requirements Sometimes that fact alone moves the conversation.
Keep Your Own Payment Records
Whether or not your provider hands you a statement, keep independent proof of what you paid. Canceled checks, bank statements, credit card records, and payment app receipts from Venmo or Zelle all work. If you pay in cash, get a signed receipt each time showing the date, amount, provider’s name, and child’s name. The IRS does not specify a required format, but having something on paper matters a great deal if your return is questioned.
Your own records also protect you if the provider’s total disagrees with yours. The daycare’s summary is convenient, not authoritative. What you actually paid, documented at the time, is what counts.
Why the Information Matters
The Child and Dependent Care Credit offsets part of what you pay for care so you, and your spouse if married, can work or actively look for work. You need earned income during the year, and the person receiving care must be either a dependent child under age 13 or a disabled spouse or dependent of any age who lives with you for more than half the year.7Internal Revenue Service. Child and Dependent Care Credit Information
Qualifying expenses are capped at $3,000 for one qualifying person and $6,000 for two or more.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 503 (2025), Child and Dependent Care Expenses The credit itself equals a percentage of those expenses, ranging from 35% at very low incomes down to 20% once adjusted gross income exceeds $43,000.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 21 – Expenses for Household and Dependent Care Services Necessary for Gainful Employment Most families with daycare-age children sit at the 20% floor. The credit is nonrefundable, so it can reduce your federal income tax to zero but will not generate a refund on its own.7Internal Revenue Service. Child and Dependent Care Credit Information
If your employer provides dependent care benefits through a Dependent Care FSA, on-site childcare, or direct payments to a provider, the amount appears in Box 10 of your W-2, and you must complete Part III of Form 2441 to report it. Skipping Part III when Box 10 has a number is a common filing error that can trigger an IRS notice.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit
One boundary worth naming. About half the states and the District of Columbia offer their own dependent care credit, and most calculate it from the federal credit. The same provider information usually works for both, but some states ask for additional documentation. Check with your state tax agency before you file.