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

rpc

cheesemason wrote: »

What is classed as a contractual bonus though? In my contract it says if I perform well and the company performs well I will get x%. If I don't or the company doesnt its on a sliding scale down to zero

Would that bonus be excluded?

Cheers

The HMRC technical guidance says it only applies to guaranteed bonuses. Kiddicare state that performance related or discretionary bonuses are excluded.

So if your employer does it right, I think your bonus isn't counted (I am not a lawyer, tax advisor, etc, just some bloke on the interwebs). Not all employers do this calculation right and mistakes can be hard to correct...

cheesemason

Thanks for your help

liviboy

With vouchers on the way out soon, do you think there will be any movement at all on the £243/month limit?

Childcare costs are rising but the amount able to be claimed isn't...

This could be a big cause to switch to TFC sooner than anticipated...

Squiressms

My husband receives childcare vouchers through his work which he uses to part pay our childminder.
I have been invited to join the Tax-Free Childcare scheme as I am self employed.
Can we do both or would my husband have to come off his scheme and give me money to top up the tax free childcare account?
Thank you

rpc

Squiressms wrote: »

Can we do both

Nope. Not allowed under the rules of the new scheme.

or would my husband have to come off his scheme and give me money to top up the tax free childcare account?
Thank you

Yes, but make sure it is better for you than using his vouchers.

always29

Hope someone can help me calculate net pay after vouchers please. My employer has finally signed up to the scheme and I am on a fixed term contract til March 2018. The CCV provider has told me I can back date vouchers to the start of this tax year so effectively deducting £486 a month but I am trying to work out my net pay if I did this. Having this stock of vouchers would cover child care for the whole of this academic year and remove the worry of paying for childcare if I end up with a job gap. Thanks!

sheramber

First of all if you deduct £468 from your months pay will you still be paid more then NMW? If not, then you cannot do it.

Nobody can tell you your net pay without knowing

your total income to date,

tax deducted and

tax code.

Amount of month's income before £468 deducted and

details of any other deductions made from your income , such as pension payments.

Jacqs79

Hello,
In the first part of the article, you mention an employer can pay for and 'give' these vouchers to the employee. My company have agreed to do this while I'm on maternity leave (thank you!) - its a benefit they can provide to 'keep me' but doesnt impact my Maternity Allowance. However, I'm not clear how it's to be done. One voucher company Ive spoken to only process 'salary sacrifices' and not 'additions to salary'. They suggested my company pay my vouchers directly on my behalf - is this above board? I dont want to get anyone in hot water. Does the company benefit with no NI deductions this way? Is there any guidance on this?

Jacqs79

Rfrancis wrote: »

I get childcare vouchers through salary sacrifice with my employer but my husband doesn't as his company do not have a scheme. Is it possible for me to continue to get the vouchers and for my husband to apply for the tax feee childcare? I'm not sure if you can mix and match?

There is a Family Benefits Advisory Service on Freephone 0800 028 6538 where you can receive a personal 'better off' assessment. They look at all benefits you could recieve but they specifically told me about this issue so I could understand if Tax Free vs Vouchers were better for my family.

McN

Husband and I are both signed up with Edenred to receive £243 pm each in vouchers. I have been in the scheme pre-April 2011 and husband joined post-April 2011. I have been a HR taxpayer on and off over that period, and am now definitely HR. My husband has always been BR.

We made full use of our vouchers whilst our youngest was at nursery (c£11.5k pa), but since starting primary school in 2016 our childcare costs have dropped massively (c£2.5k pa) and we now have almost £6k of vouchers sat in our Edenred accounts.

We are looking to reduce the value of the vouchers we take each month, say to a nominal £10 pm each, until the surplus is used up and then increase back to a level which meets our demand. We don't want to exit the scheme.

What would be the consequences of making the reduction on those lines?

Cheers.