Hey, My child care provider refused to provide me their tax id number.. What do I do to proceed with filing?

You should have obtained a tax number before you started paying for care, or else you should have had a discussion with the provider in which you agreed to pay them under the table and not claim the credit.

At this point, start by giving the provider a blank W-10 form, this is used to collect the tax number of your daycare provider. You may want to send it by registered mail to prove that you sent it. They have 10 days to respond.

If they still refuse to provide a tax number, the only way to claim the credit is to file your tax return by mail. You can write “refused“ in the space for the providers tax number. You must attach a written statement that explains your diligent efforts to collect the tax number, and giving as much information about the provider as you can — name, address, telephone number and so on. Send the statement and your signed tax return to the IRS. The IRS will review your statement and investigate the situation and may award you the credit. The IRS will also start an investigation of your provider to make sure that your provider is reporting income matching the expenses that you claimed.  If the provider has not been reporting their income, they may be assessed back taxes and penalties. You may lose your provider over this situation if they get angry with you.