Tax

Dependent-care FSA vs §21 credit comparator

Compares the two ways to get a tax benefit on child- and dependent-care costs: a dependent-care FSA (§129 — pre-tax, saving income + FICA at the marginal rate) vs the §21 child- and dependent-care tax credit (a percentage of eligible expenses). The §21 credit is computed by the tax engine, so its applicable-percentage schedule (incl. the 2026 OBBBA changes), the $3k/$6k expense cap by qualifying count, the AGI phase-down, and the nonrefundable limit all apply. Returns both benefits and the recommendation. Deterministic; not tax advice.

post/v1/benefits/dependent-care

Request

  • Base URL: https://api.numeratica.com
  • URL: https://api.numeratica.com/v1/benefits/dependent-care
  • Auth: one of:
    • HTTP bearer
    • API key in header X-API-Key

Request body

tax_year2025 | 2026 required
filing_status'single' | 'mfj' | 'mfs' | 'hoh' required
ordinary_incomenumber required

Drives the §21 applicable percentage (by AGI) + credit headroom.

dependent_care_expensesnumber required

Total eligible care costs for the year.

qualifying_countinteger required

1 caps §21 at $3k; 2+ at $6k.

marginal_tax_ratenumber required

For the FSA saving (income + FICA).

fsa_contribution_limitnumber

Overrides the year's §129 cap (2025: $5,000 / $2,500 MFS; 2026: $7,500 / $3,750, per OBBBA §70404). Set it to model an employer plan that hasn't adopted the increase.

Response

The FSA-vs-credit comparison

result_idstring
engine_versionstring
disclaimerstring

Example response

{
  "result_id": "depcare_1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b",
  "engine_version": "dependent-care-1.0.0"
}

Changes

No recorded changes to this operation across all 1 revision of this API.