What can it pay for?

The expense has to be for a qualifying person, usually a child under age 13, and it has to be care so that you can work or look for work. If you are married, your spouse generally has to be working, looking for work, a full-time student, or unable to provide care.

• TK tuition at Stetson (Transitional Kindergarten is below kindergarten, so it counts as care)
• Before- and after-school care at Stetson
• The Enhanced Childcare Program, when the charge is for care
• Day camps during school breaks, while you work

It does not pay kindergarten through 8th grade tuition, tutoring, overnight camps, or lessons that are education rather than care. Those costs are not FSA expenses even when the school bills them on the same statement. Kindergarten and later tuition can be a federal 529 expense. See the 529 parent guide.

2026 limits

• Federal exclusion: $7,500 per household, or $3,750 for each spouse if you file separately.
• California exclusion: $5,000 per household, or $2,500 if married filing separately. The amount from $5,000 to $7,500 can still be pre-tax for federal income tax and for Social Security and Medicare, and it is California taxable income.
• Reimbursements also cannot exceed the earned income of the lower-earning spouse.
• The election is made with the employer, usually at open enrollment. A change during the year takes a qualifying life event under that plan’s rules.

Unused dependent-care dollars are forfeited at the end of the plan year unless that employer offers a grace period. This account does not have the carryover that some health FSAs allow. Estimate the care you will actually incur, and keep invoices and proof of payment.

The child care credit

The same dollar of care cannot be both an FSA reimbursement and a Child and Dependent Care Credit. Amounts you run through the FSA reduce the expenses left for the credit. For 2026 the credit uses up to $3,000 of expenses for one qualifying person, or $6,000 for two or more. A household that already excludes $6,000 or more through an FSA often has no credit left. The tuition + tax calculator illustrates the overlap. It is not a tax return.

FSA or 529?

Use the FSA for care and a 529 for education. TK tuition, ECP, and before- and after-school care are FSA expenses. Kindergarten and later tuition, books, and the other K–12 items on the 529 list are not. Many families use both. California taxes the earnings portion of a K–12 529 withdrawal, and it also taxes dependent-care FSA dollars above $5,000.

Further reading

• Enhanced Childcare Program
• 529 parent guide
• Tuition and the tuition + tax calculator
• IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses