Childcare Vouchers: cut childcare costs by £1,000/year Discussion Area

stymied

Do childcare vouchers built up have to be spent on the same child they're built up for? (We have one starting school in Sept & one due in Sept)

For the new scheme, does on maternity leave count as working?

Thanks

onlyroz

stymied wrote: »

Do childcare vouchers built up have to be spent on the same child they're built up for? (We have one starting school in Sept & one due in Sept)

I have two children and one voucher account. I use them to pay for the after-school club and in the "child's name" field for the payment to them I just say "Bob and Bobetta Smith".

When my kids were younger I first used them to pay for Bob's nursery place, and then when he left I switched them to pay for Bobbetta's place. All I had to do was change the child reference in the payment to the nursery.

tiptoe_mouse

stymied wrote: »

Do childcare vouchers built up have to be spent on the same child they're built up for? (We have one starting school in Sept & one due in Sept)

For the new scheme, does on maternity leave count as working?

Thanks

Regarding your second question - yes, it does, as shown on this webpage: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-free-childcare-10-things-parents-should-know

The scheme will also be available to parents on paid sick leave and paid and unpaid statutory maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

HTH

tiptoe

Scarletlady_2

A good idea but no where to spend the childcare voucher. Camps takes away valuable time from us. My kids are now in big school.

Mupette

Goldust wrote: »

Hi everyone


I'm a little confused - my employer offers the voucher scheme via care-4 and I'm about to sign up but have noticed there is a new scheme coming up.


From what I can see I'm better off with the vouchers. I'm in the £30-£40k bracket in terms of pay so I'm guessing I get Tax and NI savings which would be higher than the 20% the new scheme offers. My partner works part time so doesn't pay any tax anyway and we only need to put around £55 per week in which is the max anyway.


If I decide to put the baby in nursery for extra days once the new scheme starts can I claim the tax relief on anything over the £55 I'm paying into the voucher scheme or is it one or the other?


Sorry if it's not clear I'm a bit confused!

Your already getting the tax and ni free on the voucher value, anything out of your own pocket does not qualify with the currently running voucher companies, TFC are yet to give full details of their plans

Mupette

stymied wrote: »

Do childcare vouchers built up have to be spent on the same child they're built up for? (We have one starting school in Sept & one due in Sept)

For the new scheme, does on maternity leave count as working?

Thanks

As long as the child you want to spend the voucher on is named in your account,

StinkyMonkey

I am higher rate tax-payer, therefore, I can only claim £124/month in CC vouchers. However, I need to pay the childcare provider a higher amount than £124/month.

If I join a voucher scheme now, could I 'top-up' through the new Tax-free Childcare scheme from September? In other words, can the two systems be used side-by-side?

If this question has already been raised, please point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

Note: My wife is already registered for CC vouchers and is receiveing the full £243 each month

Procrastinator333

Is it me or are the dates given on the info page incorrect? It states:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/childcare-vouchers

"From early 2017, no new entrants will be able to join the childcare vouchers scheme."

But I thought it was no new entrants to the childcare voucher scheme after Autumn 2015? A link to Gov.UK and a quote:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-free-childcare-10-things-parents-should-know

"Parents won’t be able to register for Employer-Supported Childcare after Tax-Free Childcare is introduced in autumn 2015, but those already registered by this date will be able to continue using it for as long as their employer offers it."


Nope. My error. MSE are all over it:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2015/07/tax-free-childcare-scheme-delayed-until-2017

sweaty_betty

Procrastinator333 wrote: »

Is it me or are the dates given on the info page incorrect? It states:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/childcare-vouchers

"From early 2017, no new entrants will be able to join the childcare vouchers scheme."

But I thought it was no new entrants to the childcare voucher scheme after Autumn 2015? A link to Gov.UK and a quote:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/tax-free-childcare-10-things-parents-should-know

"Parents won’t be able to register for Employer-Supported Childcare after Tax-Free Childcare is introduced in autumn 2015, but those already registered by this date will be able to continue using it for as long as their employer offers it."


Nope. My error. MSE are all over it:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2015/07/tax-free-childcare-scheme-delayed-until-2017

Thanks for this, I'd completely missed it.

lite_ruse

Looks like they've indeed postponed the start of this... apparently because of the Edenred lawsuit, so disappointing!

wrote:

It also confirmed that, as a direct result of the legal challenge, the scheme is now expected to launch from early 2017. The existing Employer‑Supported Childcare scheme will remain open to new entrants until Tax-Free Childcare is launched.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-tax-free-childcare-launch-date-as-it-welcomes-judgment-from-supreme-court