Tax Free Childcare and Childcare Vouchers

Tax-Free Childcare is a new Government scheme to help working families with their childcare costs.

Parents could be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if they:

• Earn (on average) at least £120 per week but less than £100,000 per year
• Don’t receive childcare vouchers, tax credits or Universal Credit
• Have children who are under 12, or under 17 for disabled children. 

Parents will be able to open online childcare accounts to pay their registered childcare providers directly and the government will add to the account. For every £8 parents pay into these accounts, the Government will add £2. Parents could receive a Government contribution of up to £2,000 per child, per year or £4,000 for disabled children.

Parents will be able to track how much they’ve paid in and how much they’ve spent for each child. The top-up will be added into the account on the same day, and the total amount will be available to pay for childcare.

Sign up to become a Tax-Free Childcare Provider

More information for parents about Tax-Free Childcare

Childcare vouchers are a means by which employers can help their employees pay for childcare. Using a childcare voucher scheme will enable a parent to access up to £933 a year in tax and National Insurance savings. You pay for your childcare before tax and National Insurance deductions are made. The amount you can get in childcare vouchers will, however, depend on how much you earn and when you joined the scheme.

New applications for parents and providers to apply for childcare vouchers closed on 4th October 2018. Families and providers that were apart of this scheme before this date will still be able to access this, but any new parents or providers will need to join the government's new scheme "Tax-Free Childcare"