A healthcare reimbursement account, also called a flexible spending account, lets you contribute money before taxes into an account to pay for child care expenses that allow you to work.

In general, if you -- or your and your spouse together -- make more than $43,000 a year, it is usually better to put as much as possible into a reimbursement account.

You can contribute up to $5,000 a year to pay for qualified child care expenses, no matter how many children you have. However, if you put in more than you spend in a year, you lose the difference.

If your spouse is employed, your spouse can also contribute to a reimbursement account at work, but your contributions to both accounts combined cannot exceed $5,000 a year. To make life simple, it’s usually easier to open just one account.

Even if you make less than $43,000, if you have only one child, you might save more money with the dependent care account than the child care tax credit. That’s because money that goes into the account at work is also exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax.

For more information, go to www.irs.gov and search for Publication 503 (2006), Child and Dependent Care Expenses

To calculate your savings from a dependent care account, go to http://www.smartmoney.com/tax/homefamily/index.cfm?story=dependentcare#table.