Part III 
Dependent Care Benefits(p3)

If you had an employer-provided dependent care plan, your employer may have permitted you to carry forward any unused amount from 2007 to use during a grace period in 2008. Enter on line 13 the amount you carried forward and used in 2008 during the grace period.

If you had an employer-provided dependent care plan, enter on line 14 the total of the following amounts included on line 12.

• Any amount you forfeited. You forfeited an amount if you did not receive it because you did not incur the expense. Do not include amounts you expect to receive at a future date.
• Any amount you did not receive but are permitted by your employer to carry forward and use in the following year during a grace period.

Under your employer's dependent care plan, you chose to have your employer set aside $5,000 to cover your 2008 dependent care expenses. The $5,000 is shown in box 10 of your Form W-2. In 2008, you incurred and were reimbursed for $4,950 of qualified expenses. You would enter $5,000 on line 12 and $50, the amount forfeited, on line 14. You would also enter $50 on line 14 if, instead of forfeiting the amount, your employer permitted you to carry the $50 forward to use during the grace period in 2009.

Add the amounts on lines 12 and 13 and subtract from that total, the amount on line 14. Enter the result on line 15.

Enter the total of all qualified expenses incurred in 2008 for the care of your qualifying person(s). It does not matter when the expenses were paid.

You received $2,000 in cash under your employer's dependent care plan for 2008. The $2,000 is shown in box 10 of your Form W-2. Only $900 of qualified expenses were incurred in 2008 for the care of your 5-year-old dependent child. You would enter $2,000 on line 12 and $900 on line 16.

If filing jointly, figure your and your spouse's earned income separately. Enter your earned income on line 18 and your spouse's earned income on line 19. If your filing status is married filing separately or your spouse was a student or disabled, see the instructions for line 19.

Earned income for figuring the amount of dependent care benefits you are able to exclude from your income includes the following amounts.

1. The amount shown on Form 1040A, line 7, minus any amount:
   1. Included for a scholarship or fellowship grant that was not reported to you on a Form W-2,
   2. Received for work performed while an inmate in a penal institution, and
   3. Received as a pension or annuity from a nonqualified deferred compensation plan or a nongovernmental section 457(b) plan. This amount may be reported in box 11 of your Form W-2. If you received such an amount but box 11 is blank, contact your employer for the amount received as a pension or annuity.
2. Nontaxable combat pay, if you elect to include it in earned income. However, including this income will only give you a larger exclusion if your (or your spouse's) other earned income is less than the amount entered on line 17. To make the election, include all of your nontaxable combat pay in the amount you enter on line 18 (line 19 for your spouse if filing jointly). If you are filing jointly and both you and your spouse received nontaxable combat pay, you can each make your own election. The amount of your nontaxable combat pay should be shown in box 12 of Form(s) W-2 with code Q.

If you are filing jointly, disregard community property laws. If your spouse died in 2008, see Pub. 503. If your spouse was a full-time student or disabled in 2008, see the instructions for line 5.

If your filing status is married filing separately, see Married persons filing separately on page 2. Are you considered unmarried under that rule?

□	Yes.	Enter your earned income (from line 18) on line 19. On line 21, enter the smaller of the amount from line 20 or $5,000.
□	No.	Enter your spouse's earned income on line 19. If your spouse was a full-time student or disabled in 2008, see the instructions for line 5. On line 21, enter the smaller of the amount from line 20 or $2,500.