Self-employed individual or employee

Whether you are self-employed and can deduct daycare expenses from your daycare income depends on the amount of control a parent has over your work.

Generally, you are a self-employed individual if you control all of the following:

• the number of hours you work
• the places you work and the materials you use
• the way you carry out your daycare duties

You can claim daycare expenses on your income tax and benefit return if you report self-employment income earned from running a daycare.

Generally, you are an employee if a parent:

• specifies the work to be done
• specifies the working hours
• supervises your work

As an employee, you can't deduct daycare expenses.

If you aren't sure about your situation, go to Employment Status: Employee or self-employed.

If you care for children part-time or from time to time and it's impossible for you to tell how long and steady the work is going to be, you can't deduct business expenses. Report these earnings on your income tax and benefit return as "Other employment income" on line 10400^{Footnote 1}.

Forms and publications

• Guide T4002, Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income