Help With Childcare Costs

vikki100

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me with a query relating to the childcare element of the child tax credit. My husband and I earn a total of £38000 and are paying £100 per week in childcare. When I first contacted the HMRC helpcentre, they said that as we earned less than 40k, we would be entitled to some help (this was a couple of weeks ago), however, when I contacted them again today, they said that we weren't entitled to any help at all and said that the earnings cut off level was £30k ish - she couldn't even tell me what it was exactly and then she went on to say that it differed from claim to claim. Is this correct and if so, how can that be fair?
Any help would be great.
Thanks.

lrr_2

See if your companies do the childcare voucher scheme and you can save on tax. Bummer I know! when I was with my ex we had to pay £130 per week! All you have to remember is its not forever. Thats what kept me going anyway!

Floxxie

We earn less than you jointly and have two children requiring childcare. We are not entitled to any help. When I spoke to the tax credits people I was told in not so many words, that I would need four children to be in childcare before we got any help or a major reduction in income.

If you can use the childcare voucher scheme it helps!

Floxxie

DreamerV

It's fair because it varies from circumstance to circumstance, so therefore from claim to claim. It depends how many children are in childcare, on your income, on how much the childcare costs, etc, etc. Thing is, the way the calculations are tapered against your income to come up with a final award, even if you don't get childcare element, it is definitely always worth adding the costs onto your claim. If you're lucky, you might find the rest of your award goes up.