Your Contributions

Maximum Contribution

Federal tax laws place limitations on the amount you can contribute to a Flexible Spending Account—Dependent Care each plan year.

Contribution Limitations

If you are married, your contributions are limited to the least of the following:

• Your earned income (after reductions in pay for contributions to other benefit plans) for the plan year; or your spouse’s earned income for the plan year.

Under federal law, if your spouse is not employed during a month that you incur eligible dependent care expenses, because he/she is a full-time student or is totally incapacitated, your spouse’s earned income for that month will be either:

• $200 if you incurred eligible expenses for one qualifying individual; or
• $400 if you incurred eligible expenses for two or more qualifying individuals.

If you are single, your contributions may not be in excess of your earned income (after reductions in taxable pay for contributions to other benefit plans) for the plan year.

The federal maximum contribution limit applies to contributions made to this and other dependent care reimbursement accounts you or your spouse participates in during a given year. Therefore, if you start working at Boston University after the beginning of the plan year and would like to participate in the Flexible Spending Account—Dependent Care, you must consider any contributions made to your previous employer’s dependent care plan when determining your maximum contribution limit for this account.