Employer Start Guide
Which credits, which forms, in what order, for the way you will deliver the benefit.
Answer two questions and the guide lists what to start with. Or read the ten-step sequence and the form index.
Start Guide series, September 2026, revised September 30, 2026. Companion to the QCC 45F Toolkit v5: the Employer Toolkit workbook (v5), the Guide (Edition 5), the FAQ (September 2026), and the template pack (Core documents 01 to 05, Supplemental documents 06 to 09). Law and guidance reviewed through August 29, 2026; Department of Revenue and IRS pages re-checked September 29, 2026. Prepared for Quality Care for Children by MMA CPA INC.
Federal IRC §45F · Georgia O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.6 (Credit 105) · Georgia O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.28 (Credit 162)
Federal IRC §45F · Georgia O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.6 (Credit 105) · Georgia O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.28 (Credit 162)
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Contents
Use the buttons below, or the left and right arrow keys, to move between slides. Path returns to the questions.
Three ways in
- Answer two questions. Which credits you will pursue, and how care will be delivered. The answer page lists the forms to start with, in order, the forms you use through the year, and the government forms at year end.
- Read the sequence. Ten steps, each tied to a document in the QCC set.
- Look a form up. The index lists every document in the set, what it is for, and who completes it.
Document numbers refer to the v5 template pack in the 01 Employer folder: Core documents 01 to 05, which set up and run the program, and Supplemental documents 06 to 09, needed in particular situations or for the tax file. The two employee documents sit in 02 Employee and the provider documents in 03 Provider; the Employer Toolkit workbook (v5) holds the calculator and the tracker. Where your payroll or child care management system already records the same elements, a template is optional. The Guide (Edition 5) and the FAQ (September 2026) carry the detail behind each step.
Certainty labels used in this guide: established a rule found in statute or regulation. conservative reading the safer of two available readings. practice convention customary practice, not required by law. unresolved no authority decides the point.
The three credits on one screen
| Federal §45F | Georgia Credit 105 | Georgia Credit 162 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rewards | 40% of qualified child care expenditures (50% for an eligible small business), plus 10% of resource and referral expenditures | 75% of the cost of operating employer-provided or employer-sponsored child care | $500 per child; $1,000 per child in the employer's first year (a two-part test) |
| Ceiling | Credit capped at $500,000 ($600,000 eligible small business), indexed after 2026; nonrefundable | 50% of Georgia liability computed without regard to any other credits | 100% of Georgia liability; $20 million statewide cap each year |
| Child's age | No age limit | Under 13, and a dependent the employee can claim on a Georgia return (by regulation) | Under six |
| Facility | Principal use is child care; meets all state and local law including licensing. License-exempt programs: unresolved | Licensed facility (the regulation cites the older DHS scheme; DECAL as successor) | Child care learning center or family child care learning home with a DECAL permit, license, or commission. Quality Rated not required |
| Payment | Under a contract with a qualified facility, or from 2026 with an intermediary that contracts with facilities. Amounts above fair market value excluded | Paid by the employer directly to the entity providing the care (by regulation) | Made directly to the facility, in the employee's name; at least $1,000 per employee per year; in addition to other compensation |
| Claimed on | Form 8882, then Form 3800, then the return | Form IT-CCC75 attached to the Georgia return | Georgia return, after DOR preapproval, applied for electronically through the Georgia Tax Center (no opening date or form published as of September 29, 2026) |
| Carry | Back one year, forward twenty | Forward five years from the year the cost was incurred | None, in either direction. Use it first. |
What it is worthIn the Guide's worked example (Edition 5, section 13), a 20-person eligible small business spending $50,000 on contracted places for eight children under six recovers about $38,983 in the first year ($30,250 federal, credit plus remaining deduction; $8,733 Georgia credit) and carries a further $36,767 of Credit 105 forward. The credits are nonrefundable, so model them against your own liability first. The Georgia part rests on the unresolved stacking point on the Open points slide. conservative reading
A fourth credit, Georgia Credit 104, applies to the cost of acquiring or building a child care facility (Form IT-CCC100). It is outside this guide's path; see the Guide.
Which credits will you pursue?
Choose the combination you expect to claim. The Toolkit's Credit Calculator will show the numbers; this page sets the paperwork.
How will care be delivered?
This decides who verifies the provider, who signs what, and whether the Georgia payment rule can be met.
Your forms, in order
Decide and adopt
- 1. Decide the credits and the delivery model.Run the Credit Calculator (Toolkit v5); the Guide's section 13 example shows the shape of the answer. Check eligible-small-business status: five-year average gross receipts, aggregated with related entities, under $32 million for 2026. Leave the calculator's Georgia toggle on "confirm with advisor" until you have advice on whether the same payment supports both Georgia credits unresolved.Toolkit v5, Credit Calculator tab · Guide §1 and §13
- 2. Adopt the policy.Choose the benefit structure. For the Georgia credits the policy must say that payment goes directly to the facility, in the employee's name, in addition to and not in place of other compensation established. Enrollment open to employees generally, for the federal nondiscrimination condition established. If Quality Care for Children will administer the program, the policy's optional Section 6 paragraph names it; if you will claim the Georgia credits, keep the payment itself direct from you to each facility conservative reading.Core 01
- 3. If you will claim Credit 162, prepare the preapproval now.Count children under six, per-employee amounts of at least $1,000, and the first-year test: first year of eligible payments, and no prior payment, reimbursement, or subsidy of employee child care in any form established. DOR says the application is filed electronically through the Georgia Tax Center; no opening date, form, or regulation had been published as of September 29, 2026. Applications are taken in order of submission and only a properly completed application keeps its place established.Supplemental 07
Ask, verify, enroll
- 4. Ask employees which providers they use.Distribute the enrollment form (Core 02); its Section D is the request to add a provider. An employee whose employer has no program yet uses the Request to Sponsor form, and a provider's One Page for Employers may arrive with either. The program follows the providers employees name; you do not have to select one.Core 02, Section D · Request to Sponsor My Child Care Provider · One Page for Employers
- 5. Verify each named facility.Credential type from DECAL: permit, license, or commission. An exemption letter is not a credential; an exempt program qualifies for neither Georgia credit established and its federal position is unresolved unresolved. Get the certificate copy, record the expiration, verify again at renewal. Public lookups may not show credential type; the certificate does.Core 04
- 6. Enroll employees.Each child's name and date of birth and whether the child is under six, the provider, the acknowledgements the employee initials, and, where you use the tri-party agreement, the Section F joinder. Confirm for each child under 13 that the employee can claim the child as a Georgia dependent, which Credit 105 requires established. The form does not collect Social Security numbers; Georgia's regulation still requires your Credit 105 records to hold employee names and SSNs, children's names and ages and SSNs where the child is one or older, and the provider's name and FEIN established. Take them from payroll and the provider's W-9, ask the employee for the child's separately, and protect them.Core 02 · Reg. 560-7-8-.38(2)(d)
Contract and attest
- 7. Sign the agreement.The Child Care Services Agreement (Core 03) is the only agreement in the set; it replaces the earlier long-form and short-form provider agreements. You and the provider sign it once. Each employee becomes a party by signing Section F of the enrollment form, which you countersign; the provider does not sign the joinder. You give the provider written notice within [10] days and record the enrollment on Schedule B. Do not redraft so the employee is the primary obligor and you reimburse: that defeats Credit 162 on the statute's plain text established and weakens the federal claim conservative reading. Indemnity, the employee release, insurance, no-endorsement wording, and the joinder-by-enrollment-form mechanism are marked for counsel.Core 03, Schedules A to C · Core 02, Section F
- 8. Complete the nondiscrimination attestation before the first payment.Enrollment open to employees; participation not skewed to highly compensated employees; the 30% test only if child care is your principal business established. Repeat each year and keep it as an internal working paper.Supplemental 08
Pay, record, file
- 9. Pay the facility directly and keep the log.One line per payment in the Expenditure Tracker tab of the Toolkit workbook (v5). Collect the Provider Reporting and Receipt Form (Core 05) from each provider each period, with its invoice. Work the Documentation Checklist (Supplemental 06) through the year. One file per facility practice convention. Invoices show care charges separately from any administration fee, because amounts above fair market value are excluded federally established. Where your systems already record the same elements, the template is optional.Toolkit v5, Expenditure Tracker tab · Core 05 · Supplemental 06
- 10. File.Federal: Form 8882 (still the December 2017 revision as of September 29, 2026; check for the 2026 revision), Form 3800, your return, with the deduction reduced by the credit established. Georgia: claim Credit 162 first because it has no carryforward, then Credit 105 with Form IT-CCC75 attached established. Pass-through entities file the Georgia forms with the entity return; owners claim Credit 105 by profit and loss percentage established; Credit 162 pass-through treatment is unaddressed unresolved. Keep records at least four years after the return due date, longer if under examination practice convention.Forms 8882, 3800, IT-CCC75; the Credit 162 preapproval and return
Employer documents
| Document | What it is | Completed by |
|---|---|---|
| Core 01 | Employer Child Care Benefit Policy Establishes the benefit: structure, who may enroll, payment direct to the facility, in addition to pay. Section 6 carries an optional paragraph for a program administered by Quality Care for Children. | Employer |
| Core 03 | Child Care Services Agreement (tri-party) The only agreement in the set; it replaces the earlier long-form and short-form provider agreements. Employer pays the provider directly, in the employee's name. Schedule A rates, Schedule B roster, Schedule C form of joinder. Counsel items marked. | Employer and provider sign once; employees join by Section F of the enrollment form |
| Supplemental 06 | Employer Documentation Checklist Five parts, about fifty items. The control list for the year, closed at filing. Optional where your systems already record the same elements. | Employer |
| Supplemental 07 | Georgia Credit 162 Preapproval Worksheet Children under six, per-employee amounts of at least $1,000, the first-year test, the liability cap, the ordering calculation. | Employer |
| Supplemental 08 | Employee Access and Nondiscrimination Attestation Enrollment open to employees; participation not skewed to highly compensated employees; the 30% test where child care is the employer's principal business. | Employer (internal working paper) |
| Supplemental 09 | Shared Child Care Facility MOU Employers sponsoring the same facility. Each pays directly and supports its own figure. | Two or more employers |
| Toolkit v5 | Credit Calculator tab (Employer Toolkit workbook v5) Federal and Georgia estimates. Keep the Georgia toggle on 'confirm with advisor' until you have advice. | Employer |
| Toolkit v5 | Expenditure Tracker and Funding Flows tabs (Employer Toolkit workbook v5) One line per payment to a facility, and the money-flow diagrams. The Word expenditure log and the workbook's reporting and checklist tabs were retired in v5; the reporting form and the checklist are Word documents in the pack. | Employer |
Employee and provider documents you will receive
| Document | What it is | Completed by |
|---|---|---|
| Employee form | Request to Sponsor My Child Care Provider How an employee asks an employer that has no program to start one. Where a program exists, Section D of the enrollment form asks to add a provider. In the 02 Employee folder. | Employee, to the employer |
| Handout | One Page for Employers What the provider is, what credential it holds, how to reach it. Informational, not a form. PDF in the 02 Employee and 03 Provider folders. | Provider gives to parents; parents give to employers |
| Core 02 | Employee Enrollment and Eligibility Form (with joinder) Sections A to F: the employee; each child's name and date of birth and whether under six; the current provider; a request to add a provider (Section D); acknowledgements the employee initials (Section E); the joinder to the Child Care Services Agreement (Section F). One signature. | Employee; countersigned and kept by the employer |
| Core 02, Section F | Employee joinder to the Child Care Services Agreement Part of the enrollment form, not a separate document. Signing it makes the employee a party to the agreement for a named child and provider; the employer notifies the provider within [10] days and records it on Schedule B. Its form is Schedule C of the agreement. | Employee; employer countersigns |
| Core 04 | Provider Intake and Licensing Verification DECAL credential type and number, expiration, certificate copy, FEIN, W-9, contact. | Provider completes; employer verifies |
| Core 05 | Provider Reporting and Receipt Form For each child: the employee, the child, whether under six, the care period, the amount billed to the employer, any amount the employee paid. Signed and returned with the invoice. | Provider, each period |
| Provider 03 | Provider Documentation Checklist What the provider keeps: certificate, agreement, invoices, reporting forms. In the 03 Provider folder only. | Provider |
| IRS form | Form W-9 Taxpayer identification for the payer's records and information reporting. | Provider, to the employer or intermediary |
| Not in the pack | Administrator (intermediary) agreement Still to be drafted, with counsel review. The policy (Core 01, Section 6) carries an optional paragraph naming an administrator; the 20 August draft that separated care from administration on the invoice can be revived. | Employer and administrator |
Retired in v5 and no longer in the pack: the long-form and short-form employer–provider agreements (the tri-party agreement replaces both), the Word Child Care Expenditure Log (now the Expenditure Tracker tab), the federal workbook PDF, and the workbook’s Provider Reporting and Doc Checklist tabs. The v4 folder keeps them for reference.
Government forms, by credit
| Form | Who |
|---|---|
| Form 8882, Credit for Employer-Provided Childcare Facilities and Services The posted revision (12-2017) still shows 25% and $150,000 as of September 29, 2026. Check for the 2026 revision before filing. | Employer |
| Form 3800, General Business Credit Carries the §45F credit to the return. Carryback one year, carryforward twenty. | Employer |
| Federal income tax return (1120, 1120-S, 1065; owners' returns for pass-throughs) Reduce the deduction by the amount of the credit (§45F(f)(2)). | Employer |
| Georgia Form IT-CCC75, attached to the Georgia return (Credit 105) A condition of the credit, not housekeeping (Reg. 560-7-8-.38(2)(e)). Credit code 105. | Employer |
| Credit 162 preapproval application to the Department of Revenue, then the Georgia return DOR says the application is filed electronically through the Georgia Tax Center; no opening date, form, or regulation published as of September 29, 2026. Confirm with DOR. Credit code 162. | Employer |
| Georgia Form IT-CCC100 with the supporting schedule (Credit 104, property only) Credit code 104. Outside this guide's path. | Employer |
| Form W-2 (employee copy) Shows whether the benefit was included in wages or excluded under a dependent care assistance program. | Employer issues; employee receives |
Ordering at filing: Credit 162 first (no carryforward, repealed after 2030), then Credit 105, then Credit 104 where it applies. Each Georgia credit has its own ceiling; together they cannot exceed the Georgia liability.
Points this guide states as unresolved
- Whether one payment to a facility can support both Georgia Credit 105 and Credit 162. The conservative figure counts Credit 162 alone. unresolved
- Whether an intermediary or paying agent between you and the facility, including Quality Care for Children acting as administrator, breaks "directly" for Credit 105 (the regulation) and Credit 162 (the statute). The reading is adverse; keep the payment direct unless your advisor confirms otherwise. unresolved
- Whether a license-exempt program satisfies the federal facility test. No regulation, ruling, or publication decides it. unresolved
- How Credit 162 passes through an S corporation, partnership, or LLC. The statute is silent and there is no regulation. unresolved
- When the Credit 162 preapproval window opens. DOR's page says the application is filed electronically through the Georgia Tax Center, but no opening date, form, or regulation had been published as of September 29, 2026; confirm with DOR. unresolved
- Whether the posted Form 8882 has been revised for the 2026 rates. The 12-2017 revision was still posted on September 29, 2026. unresolved
- Whether joinder by signing the enrollment form (Section F, countersigned by you, with notice to the provider) is the mechanism counsel wants. Marked for counsel with the indemnity, release, and insurance terms.
Sources for every position in this guide are listed in the Guide (Edition 5), section 21, and the FAQ (September 2026), Appendix A; the Guide's section 22 collects the unresolved 2026 issues.
Where to go next
- The Guide (Edition 5), section 14, walks the same ten steps with the detail behind each.
- The FAQ (September 2026), questions 1 to 33, answers employer questions in plain language, with the certainty of each answer marked.
- The Toolkit workbook (v5) holds the Credit Calculator, the Expenditure Tracker, and the Funding Flows diagrams; the reporting form and the documentation checklist are Word documents in the pack.
- Quality Care for Children can administer the program for you: verifying providers, collecting their reports and invoices, keeping the file, and telling you what to pay each facility. Keep the payment itself direct to each facility if you claim the Georgia credits.
- Your own CPA or tax advisor confirms eligibility and the numbers for your company before you rely on them.
Quality Care for Children
Prepared by MMA CPA INC., 160 Clairemont Ave. Suite 200, Decatur, GA 30030.
Prepared by MMA CPA INC., 160 Clairemont Ave. Suite 200, Decatur, GA 30030.
General information for planning. Not legal or tax advice. Eligibility and tax results depend on the facts of each employer, employee, and provider and on the law in force when a return is filed. Confirm with your own advisor.