Tax-Free Childcare is a new scheme which gives eligible families up to £2,000 free per child towards childcare costs.
Designed to replace the Childcare Vouchers scheme, TFC will provide working parents and now self-employed workers with another option for tax savings on their childcare direct through the Government.
The scheme is designed so that for every 80p you put in, the state will add 20p – so it effectively gives you basic-rate tax back on what you pay. In total you’ll be able to use the scheme to pay for up to £10,000 of childcare per child each year – so you could get an extra £2,000 per child (up to £4,000 if your child is disabled) each year. Once your childcare bill exceeds the Government maximum, there’s no more financial support.
The scheme’s available to parents of children up to and including the age of 11 (or 16 for children with disabilities). This is slightly lower than the 15 years of age limit for kids with the vouchers scheme but the same for children with disabilities.
Qualifying Conditions:
The qualifying conditions are that:
- Only available to working single parents and couples (both must work) earning less than £100,000 each per year and a minimum of the equivalent of 16 hours/week at the National Living or Minimum Wage (currently £120/week).
- If at any point, one parent loses their job, eligibility for both will cease.
- You will have to opt out Child Tax Credits to take Tax-Free Childcare.
- Only one account can be opened per child.
- Childcare could be any breakfast club, nursery, playgroup, nanny, childminder or au pair – the crucial element is that your provider must also be registered with a regulator such as Ofsted, the Early Years Register or the Childcare Register to count as childcare under the scheme.
The £55 a week (or £243 per month, or £2,915 per year) exemption applies to each individual employee, not per household or number of children. It applies to both tax and NICs. If you provide qualifying childcare support that exceeds the allowable threshold, the excess will be liable for both tax and NICs.
Which scheme will be better – Childcare vouchers or Tax-free Childcare?
From October 2018, no new entrants are able to join the Childcare Vouchers scheme. If you’re already a member, though, you will be able to continue for as long as your employer runs the scheme, or as long as you stay with your employer.
A lot depends on how much you earn, how much tax you pay, and how much you pay for childcare.
Please see table below:
