Thousands of working families in the South East could be missing out on an opportunity to get up to £2,000 a year to help with the cost of childcare, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding parents, ahead of February half term.
Tax-Free Childcare – the 20% childcare top-up – provides eligible working families with up to £500 every 3 months (or £1,000 if their child is disabled) towards the cost of holiday clubs, before and after-school clubs, childminders and nurseries, and other accredited childcare schemes.
More than 50,000 working families used the scheme in September 2021, in the South East. Overall, HMRC paid out more than £35 million in top-up payments, which was shared between nearly 316,000 families across the UK – an increase of about 90,000 families compared to September 2020.
Tax-Free Childcare is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability. For every £8 deposited into an account, families will receive an additional £2 in government top-up.
This scheme is one of many ways the government is supporting households to raise their incomes and keep more of what they earn.
Parents and carers can check their eligibility and register for Tax-Free Childcare via GOV.UK.
Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:
“The 20% government top-up offers working families help to pay for childcare, whether it’s nursery bills, after school clubs or holiday clubs. Search ‘Tax-Free Childcare’ on GOV.UK to find out more.”
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Accounts can be opened at any time of the year and can be used straight away. For example, if parents and carers have school-aged children and use holiday clubs during school holidays, they could deposit money into their accounts throughout the year. This means they could spread the cost of childcare while also benefitting from the 20% government top-up.
Tax-Free Childcare is also available for pre-school aged children attending nurseries, childminders, or other childcare providers. Families with younger children will often have higher childcare costs than families with older children, so the tax-free savings can really make a difference.
Childcare providers can also sign up for a childcare provider account via GOV.UK to receive payments from parents and carers via the scheme.
priceless…If you’re living in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein, you (or your partner if you have one) might still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare if:
I effing give up – why work, be extorted for taxes and then see it handed out to everyone that expects us to pay for their brats, even when they don’t even live in the UK – jeez