Childcare Vouchers/MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

iansnellin

I have just been informed at work that the maximum monthly allowance has been increased to £238.33 per person. So make sure you claim the maximum if you need it. Once again don't forget that both parents can claim if there employers are running the scheme.
My wife and I are, and can cover the full cost of nursery fees without paying tax, brilliant!!!
This is one of my best moneysaving changes to date. Perhaps Martin should put anitem in the weekly newsletter to publicise this again?

NeilW

sooz wrote:

anyone have any idea how to do this if self-employed. is it poss. other half self employed, but usually is contracted to work for one company...or if i'm self employed can i give these to myself?



IT'S NOT FAIR....and much stomping of feet :mad:

Incorporate. If you operate as a company you can use the system.

NeilW

There is no need to use voucher providers to use this scheme.

Essentially any employer can print their own 'IOUs', and as long as the nursery in question will accept them you get the break.

I have suggested the use of Monopoly money, and I was only half joking.

NeilW

anitha

hi,

I work for a small comapny - where can I find details as to how our company can do this themselves ?
Leap frog say they need min 10 employees.

I return to work o n monday and would like to print out all the info, ready to hand, as my boss is 75 and may take some real convincing.



thanx

thebigfatox

Beware the Government - I'm essentially self-employed and can't benefit from the scheme on this basis, and do some part-time work that's employed - and in this job I earn too little to benefit (I've been advised that sacrificing any of my salary would put me below the minimum wage!). Meanwhile, my wife's employer haven't subscribed to the scheme.

thebigfatox

In the same boat (see message posted today), I've spoken to my accountatnt and I'm considering employing my wife to open my post at £300 per hour!

marknwtn1975

As a parent why when we ring HMRC do we keep getting conflicting opinions as to wether you can or cant receive vouchers if you are receiving the childcare element to WTC's. 1st time I was told that if I want £50 a week in vouchers they will drop my support (WTC) by £50. 2nd time I explained that my employer isnt buying vouchers on top of my wage, I am buying them effectively as they form 'PART OF MY EXHISTING WAGE', I.E. Salary Sacrifice. So how can they take £50 per week off my support when I'm not getting £50 per week support from childcare vouchers. I am in fact only benefitting from the Tax & N.I. releif on that £50. On the 2nd call the opperator I spoke to went away and asked a manager then came back to me saying sorry I missunderstoon the first time. All we need to know then is what your reduced Gross Taxable income will be as this is ultimately what your tax credits are based on... So this tells me that even though I am on WTC's and get about 40% of my childcare paid for, I can also at least for the remaining expense I have, use vouchers as additional support. IS THIS RIGHT or NOT!!!!!

marknwtn1975

I think you will find that the actual amount you can claim for is £243 you see what they did was to up the weekly amount from £50 to £55 and the first year the Monthly paid employee figure was - £50 x 52 weeks per year / 12 months in a year = £216.66 so they allowed £217. For this year they have accepted that if the first and last week of the year are split weeks then there can (at least in accounting terms) be 53 weeks in a year so it's now £55 x 53 weeks per year / 12 months in a year = £242.91 so they allowed £243. Hope it help's

Woby_Tide

marknwtn1975 wrote:

As a parent why when we ring HMRC do we keep getting conflicting opinions as to wether you can or cant receive vouchers if you are receiving the childcare element to WTC's. 1st time I was told that if I want £50 a week in vouchers they will drop my support (WTC) by £50. 2nd time I explained that my employer isnt buying vouchers on top of my wage, I am buying them effectively as they form 'PART OF MY EXHISTING WAGE', I.E. Salary Sacrifice. So how can they take £50 per week off my support when I'm not getting £50 per week support from childcare vouchers. I am in fact only benefitting from the Tax & N.I. releif on that £50. On the 2nd call the opperator I spoke to went away and asked a manager then came back to me saying sorry I missunderstoon the first time. All we need to know then is what your reduced Gross Taxable income will be as this is ultimately what your tax credits are based on... So this tells me that even though I am on WTC's and get about 40% of my childcare paid for, I can also at least for the remaining expense I have, use vouchers as additional support. IS THIS RIGHT or NOT!!!!!

They aren't helping matters admittedly but the basics from your circumstances I guess are(using made up figures:

You currently declare you earn £30000 per year. You also claim that you spend say £200 per month on childcare. From this your WTC and CTC amounts are decided.

If you now take a salary sacrifice of the £200 childcare, you effectively will declare that you now earn £27600 (£30k - £2.4k) but you also spend £0 on childcare per month.

The amount of WTC isn't reduced by £50, it's the amount of childcare you decalre as you can't receive the tax benefit twice basically, once on your salary and once in Tax credits. whatever you take in childacre vouchers, you minus from the figure you say you pay in childcare

SammyD_2

These bloody vouchers sum up everything that is wrong with this country - they are in theory a good idea (give parents a tax break on some of their childcare costs) but as usual it can't be done simply. I spend hours every month trying to adminster my vouchers.

My childcare is paid for weekly (£186). My childminder insists on this. My husband's employer only allows a maximum of £55 a week sacrifice, and uses Busy Bees. They will only pay electronically to my childminder if I pay her monthly. So I get sent four vouchers every four weeks to use up.

My work pays me monthly, and I sacrifice a further £55 per week to their scheme, administered by Care-4. They only operate electronically, so have to make a separate payment to the childminder for this.

Then I have to do top up payments from my bank account. Worse still, the Care-4 and bank accounts take three days to reach her, whereas I have to hand the vouchers over four days in advance for my childminder to be paid on time. Plus the childminder doesn't want a voucher every week, due to the admin time it costs her of having to ring up and send it off, so I give her a weeks worth of childcare in vouchers and then adjust that week's payment.

It is a total nightmare. I am grateful that we both get this tax break but there are much simpler ways of doing it.