I flagged parenting.stackexchange.com/questions/11346/… for moderator attention. Rightly so? Are such questions acceptable here? I am an advocate of bending the rules on parenting, but this is slightly over the line even for me. What do you think?
Honestly, if it's not "too local", what really is the reason to close it?
While we don't offer "tax advice" as tax professionals, it certainly seems to me a very slightly reworded question should be considered 'about parenting'...
At the least, a better comment should be made instructing the poster how to make it possibly relevant, given Dariusz' comment was incorrect (about it being too local)
@Joe Agreed, to a point. I think listing individual tax jurisdictions is getting too broad. At best, you could say something generic like, "Daycare expenses are deductible in some jurisdictions."
I think the question is slightly too specific as it stands
asking for a bit more like real tax advice (specifying grad school parent, etc.
as that is actually relevant in the US (you don't get the daycare credit if one parent isn't working, so I don't actually know if the grad school parent counts or not - probably not)
but asking about it slightly more generally seems reasonable to me
I would say the question that could be answered might be reworded as such:
"What options do I have for saving money on daycare through tax deductions?"
and the answer would be a slightly more fleshed out version of
"You may either save through an FSA, which you make at the start of the year (during benefits) and is provided usually through your employer's benefits package, and has a maximum of $5k (total) per year; or through the childcare tax credit, which has a max of $3k per child and $6k total, but is not cumulative with the FSA - max is 5k FSA and 1k Childcare tax credit for parents with 2 children or more. Additionally, you must both work to get the credit; for more details on that,
ask your tax preparer or accountant."
That seems like a useful q/a for this site
and certainly other answers for other countries would be useful as ewll
I still see it as a question about taxes, not a question about parenting. Maybe others disagree. Feel free to write up a meta question about it.
My concern is most any topic is relevant to parents, but not necessarily about parenting. For example, "What kind of filter wrench is best for teaching my child how to change the oil?" "What ISO setting should I use to take portraits of my children?" Make a case on meta for why your tax question falls on the on-topic side of that line.
I don't know what tags are appropriate (I didn't see an "on topic" or "off topic" tag), so please retag as needed.
Also if it's not sufficiently neutral as a question please edit it to be more neutral - I tried to get it entirely neutral, and then put the opinion in the answer, but not sure.
@Joe Mainly so she could get an answer more quickly. It can take a few days to reach a consensus on meta. We can always edit and reopen here or create a new question, if that's what comes out of the discussion.
@Joe There are parents who freak out about small details, but it could also just be curiosity.
@Joe I only see this as one tiny element in figuring out how to pay for daycare (a relevant and on-topic question) However, this one is simply, is a tax deduction available/allowed? Something I don't personally feel is on-topic here.