Self employed & Tax breaks for childcare

bigbadandy

My wife is self-empoyed and we have a two year old who goes to nursery two days a week. I get Busy Bee childcare vouchers which mean I can take out £246 a month from my salary for childcare before tax - saving me about £100 a month. My wife works self-employed, when I made enquiries with BusyBee they said that only PAYE employees can get their vouchers. Does anyone know if there are any equivalent tax breaks on childcare costs for self-employed people and how you go about applying for them?

fengirl_2

No, there is no tax relief for childcare for self employed people - too open to abuse I guess.

ggtcha

If your wife is self-employed and forms a limited company then yes, she can certainly claim childcare vouchers under the scheme.

If not, try calling the helpline for Working Family Tax Credits. This is means tested, but help is available for childcare even for families earning up to £60,000 a year. I was in a similar position a couple of years ago and did get help from them then. I imagine you still can.

Hope this helps.

heretolearn_2

Not as self employed, no, but as explained if she forms a ltd coy then she takes a salary and so can include childcare vouchers. However the vouchers are not just random bits of paper she can print herself - she would need to enroll in a voucher scheme. She needs to do a bit of research - and also on whether a Ltd coy would be a good idea anyway.

Child tax credits can include up to 80% of childcare costs being paid for you.