--- title: "NJ Family Child Care: Records, CACFP and Time-Space | MCC" description: "NJ family child care registration, CACFP through a sponsor, receipts and the tax ID parents need (Form W-10), and a Pub. 587 time-space calculator." url: "https://mcc-solutionsnj.com/bookkeeping/guides/nj-family-child-care-provider-records-and-taxes" --- Guide · Home child care providers # Family child care in New Jersey: registration, the food program, parent receipts and your home's time-space percentage Caring for a few children in your own home is a business with its own paperwork: an optional state registration, a food program run through sponsors, receipts parents need for their taxes, and an IRS method for sharing home costs. This guide puts the official rules for each in one place. Want this handled for you? Monthly bookkeeping, cleanup and year-end close for small businesses. Start with a free health check of your books. 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[See Tallyfinch](/bookkeeping/mcc-books-downloadable-bookkeeping-software) **Short answer.** In New Jersey, family child care registration is voluntary and handled by the Child Care Resource and Referral agency for your county; a registered home cares for no more than five children at a time, and registration lasts three years. The Child and Adult Care Food Program runs through sponsoring organizations. Parents claiming the dependent care credit need your name, address and tax ID, which Form W-10 collects. For home costs, IRS Publication 587 uses a time-space percentage: the share of the home used, times the share of hours it's used for daycare. ## Registration in New Jersey The [DCF Office of Licensing](https://www.nj.gov/dcf/divisions-offices/ool/index.shtml) says family child care providers care for five or fewer children under 13 in their own homes and may choose to become voluntarily registered through the Child Care Resource and Referral agency in the county where they live or work. The [Manual of Requirements for Family Child Care Registration](https://nj.gov/dcf/providers/licensing/laws/FCCmanual.pdf) (N.J.A.C. 3A:54) fills in the details: - **Size:** no fewer than three and no more than five children at any one time, for at least 15 hours a week (3A:54-1.2). Up to eight at a time only if the additional children live with the provider and are under six (3A:54-6.1). - **Term:** three years. The renewal packet is sent no later than 90 days before expiration, and the provider sends materials back no later than 45 days before (3A:54-5.4, 5.7). - **Fee:** $25, non-refundable, when the certificate is issued (3A:54-5.6). - **Records:** daily attendance, accidents and injuries, visitors and volunteers, and a signed statement from each parent that they received the Information to Parents statement, kept at least one year after care for each child ends (3A:54-5.11). ## The Child and Adult Care Food Program In New Jersey the [Department of Agriculture](https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/childadult/food_prog_facts.shtml) administers CACFP. A day care home takes part by signing an agreement with a sponsoring organization ([NJDA fact sheet](https://nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/pdf/familydaycarehomesfactsheet.pdf)). Tier I homes are in low-income areas or have a provider whose household income is at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; other homes are tier II, and a tier II provider can ask the sponsor to identify children whose meals are reimbursed at tier I rates. Homes can claim up to two meals and one snack, or two snacks and one meal, per eligible child per day. Your sponsor sets the menu and claim records it needs and when claims are due. ## Food on your tax return [Publication 587](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587) lets family daycare providers use standard meal and snack rates instead of tracking actual food costs for eligible children, at most one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner and three snacks per child per day. For 2025 the rates are the CACFP rates in effect on December 31, 2024; in most states $1.66 for breakfast, $3.15 for lunch or dinner and $0.93 for a snack. To use them, keep each child's name, dates and hours of attendance, and the type and quantity of meals and snacks served. CACFP reimbursements are taxable only to the extent they exceed your food expenses for eligible children. Food isn't a home expense, so it stays out of the time-space math. ## The time-space percentage Most providers use the same rooms for daycare and family life. Publication 587 allows a deduction for that space anyway, if you're in the business of providing daycare and have applied for, been granted, or are exempt from a license, certification, registration or approval under state law. A rejected application or revoked authorization doesn't meet the test. The math has two parts: - **Space:** square feet used regularly for daycare divided by the home's total. - **Time:** hours the space is used for daycare divided by the hours in the year (8,760, or 8,784 in a leap year). Shared costs such as rent, mortgage interest, utilities and homeowners insurance use space times time. In the IRS example, a 1,600 square foot basement in a 3,200 square foot home is 50%; 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year is 3,000 hours, or 34.25%; the business share is 17.12%. A cost for the daycare room alone, like painting it, uses the time percentage only: $500 times 34.25% is $171. Under the simplified method ($5 a square foot at most), the rate is reduced by daycare hours over total hours, unless at least 300 square feet were used regularly and exclusively for daycare. For the general rules on home offices, see [home office expense records](/bookkeeping/guides/home-office-expense-records). ## What parents need from you Parents who claim the child and dependent care credit report your name, address and taxpayer identification number on Form 2441. [Form W-10](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-10) is the IRS form they use to ask for it; they keep it and don't file it. The [form itself](https://irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/fw10--2020.pdf) says individuals and sole proprietors generally give a Social Security number (or an ITIN if they can't get one), that a provider who doesn't give a correct TIN is subject to a penalty for each failure unless there's reasonable cause, and that a parent can also rely on a recently printed letterhead or invoice showing your name, address and TIN. In practice: - Give a numbered receipt for every payment: date, family, child, care period, amount and method. - Mark payments made by an agency or subsidy program separately from what the family paid. - In January, give each family one year-end statement with your name, address, TIN and the total they paid. For a center with staff, tuition and subsidies, see [daycare bookkeeping](/bookkeeping/guides/bookkeeping-for-daycare-centers). Estimated payments come due through the year when nobody withholds for you; the [quarterly estimated tax calculator](/bookkeeping/quarterly-estimated-tax-calculator) sets a figure. ## Work out your time-space percentage Enter your numbers and press Work it out. Runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent or saved. An organizer for your own numbers, not tax advice. ## Official sources - [NJ Department of Children and Families: Office of Licensing (updated Apr. 13, 2026)](https://www.nj.gov/dcf/divisions-offices/ool/index.shtml) - [NJ DCF: Manual of Requirements for Family Child Care Registration, N.J.A.C. 3A:54 (effective Jan. 19, 2024)](https://nj.gov/dcf/providers/licensing/laws/FCCmanual.pdf) - [NJ Department of Agriculture: Child and Adult Care Food Program facts (updated Sept. 25, 2026)](https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/childadult/food_prog_facts.shtml) - [NJ Department of Agriculture: CACFP family day care homes fact sheet](https://nj.gov/agriculture/divisions/fn/pdf/familydaycarehomesfactsheet.pdf) - [IRS: Publication 587 (2025), Business Use of Your Home (Including Use by Daycare Providers)](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p587) - [IRS: About Form W-10, Dependent Care Provider's Identification and Certification (updated Apr. 29, 2026)](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-10) - [IRS: Form W-10 (Rev. October 2020)](https://irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/fw10--2020.pdf) Checked November 2026 on the official pages above. ## Common questions **Do I have to register to run a family child care home in New Jersey?** DCF says providers may choose to become voluntarily registered through their county's Child Care Resource and Referral agency. Ask that agency about your situation, and about any program you want to join that requires registration. **How many children can a registered family child care home care for?** No more than five at any one time under N.J.A.C. 3A:54-6.1, or up to eight only if the additional children live with the provider and are under six. **Do parents send Form W-10 to the IRS?** No. The form says not to file it with the tax return; the parent keeps it. It records your name, address and taxpayer identification number for their Form 2441. **Which hours count in the time-space percentage?** Publication 587 compares the hours the space is used for daycare to the total hours in the year. Ask your preparer before counting other business hours, such as paperwork or setup, in the space. **Are food program reimbursements income?** Publication 587 says CACFP reimbursements are taxable only to the extent they exceed your food expenses for eligible children. More guides for one-person businesses: [Booth rent or commission: stylist records](/bookkeeping/guides/booth-rent-or-commission-stylist-records-and-tips) · [NJ house cleaner pricing and records](/bookkeeping/guides/nj-house-cleaner-pricing-sales-tax-and-records) · [NJ cottage food and food truck sales](/bookkeeping/guides/nj-cottage-food-and-food-truck-sales-records) Ready-made kit ## Family Child Care Records Kit An Excel attendance and payment ledger with daily meal counts, year-end totals per family and the Publication 587 time-space math, plus printable parent receipts and a year-end statement, a time-space worksheet and a records checklist. [See the Family Child Care Records Kit ($24)](/toolkits/family-child-care-records-kit) [Free sample](/toolkits/family-child-care-records-kit#free-starter)14-day full refund **Not tax or legal advice.** This guide explains published rules and how to organize your own records. It doesn't tell you what you qualify for or what to file: the official pages, your forms and your tax preparer or attorney decide that. MCC Solutions is not a CPA firm and is not affiliated with the IRS or the State of New Jersey. Examples use made-up numbers. Checked November 2026. Tallyfinch ### Books you keep on your own computer Tallyfinch does invoices, bills, bank import, reconciliation and the main reports, in a file you own. $99 once, then $5 a month for updates; the app keeps working if you stop the plan. It does not do payroll or sales tax filing. The free download records up to 60 entries. [See Tallyfinch](/bookkeeping/mcc-books-downloadable-bookkeeping-software) [Download it free](/tools/pro/trial/mccBooks) [Compare the three apps](/software) ## Want help keeping the books? [Bookkeeping services](/bookkeeping/)[Call (908) 444-6373](tel:+19084446373)