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

sheramber

 The complication is that you did not pay tax or National Insurance  on the money used to buy the vouchers.
Any refund must be through your employer's payroll so the  retrospective tax can be charged.
Your employer would have to agree and use a payroll that supported it.

bevleigh.atkins

I use my vouchers for camps in the summer. These camps are not cheap and I’ve paid out over 1000 and PGL are stating they are cancelling the holiday but I can only have a credit note - can they refund to the childcare voucher Edenred scheme or do I have to accept the credit note?   

sheramber

  There is no way for PGL to refund to the scheme.
 
https://www.childcarevouchers.co.uk/childcare-provider/provider-faqs/
 

 What can I do if a parent pays me too much?

You can carry the credit forward to your next invoice or credit the amount they have paid via other means. If they have given you too many paper vouchers, you can return them to the parent.  Voucher payments cannot be transferred back to the parent once they have been issued.

FunBob

Our daughter goes to private school. Their service consists of Schooling, Wraparound Care and holiday Playscheme. They take part payment in Childcare Vouchers which we have always assumed pays for Playscheme and Wraparound Care. During lockdown they provided some level of remote schooling but were unable to provide childcare. They refunded us for the Easter Playscheme, however they did not refund for the wraparound care. When challenged on this, to justify their stance, they stated that wraparound care was at 'no charge' so they would not be providing a refund. This is where it gets a bit technical. In their terms they say wraparound care is at 'no extra charge', which is not incompatible with taking Childcare Voucher as it does not mean no charge, it just means the charge is indivisible from schooling. However, by saying 'no charge' this changes everything and calls into question what we have been paying for with Childcare Vouchers. The details are we pay £5832 in vouchers, we are in agreement that the Playscheme cost is £2040, so £3792 must be for wraparound care. We pointed out the inconsistency and asked them to refund wraparound care costs for all days when they were unable to provide it (as there are tax implications if they have not provided childcare for the vouchers). They responded by threatening to exclude our daughter from school (despite our account being up to date and them owing us money). Moreover, the refund for Playscheme was in cash, which means these vouchers have been laundered into cash without tax being paid on them. We have subsequently learnt that they should have been providing us with an itemised bill for childcare services to keep as evidence of compliance in case HMRC come calling - they have not, despite asking. We now face tax liabilities as a result of their action, and have taken our daughter out of school (on the basis that we cannot expose ourselves to the risk of further tax liabilities as a result of their conduct). We're not sure where to go next a) to resolve the tax implications b) to get our money back for service they have not supplied (which would also resolve the previous point) c) we feel they have breached the Childcare Voucher Scheme Regulations and should have their accreditation to partake in the scheme revoked. They refuse to respond to any issues we raise (as any admission would have repercussions for all parents). Any suggestions? (we have also been waiting 4 months for them to refund us for a cancelled Ski Trip and fear we will never see this money now we have left)

sheramber

  Have you contacted the voucher scheme administrators with your concerns.

FunBob

Thanks for this. We have contacted our Childcare Voucher Provider and they say the school should provide an itemised bill for services paid for with childcare voucher, provide a refund for services not provided, and they should only refund back to the childcare voucher provider, not as cash. However, they cannot point us to any actual rules/regulations/laws which need to be adhered to and leave it to us to get the school to comply. I believe the school is certified as a childcare provider with the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). I am awaitng a call back from them, but from what it says on thier website they say they do not get involved in individual disputes (though I will try and argue it is a general breach of regulations). I did contact OfSted but they said the Department of Education is responsible for schools. No one has actually admitted to being the definitive authority on the Chaildcare Voucher Scheme. Do you know if there is a specific Administrator I should be contacting? (what I've detailed is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of irregular accounting practices)

sheramber

What about your local council?
if all else fails try your MP.

FunBob

Hmmm, the head of governors is a local councilor, and the local MP is tory. I think I'll hold out for a reply form the ISI first, but thanks for the suggestion. We could try the press, reputations are fragile things!

Fliss_M

With the coming changes to NI, will the listed £933 yearly saving per parent using the full amount change?

Barnet_Pimpernel

Word of warning about the voucher scheme. If you don’t/can’t spend the vouchers, the company keeps the cash and you can’t get it back. During lockdown childcare was closed so my partner couldn’t spend the vouchers. My son’s now over the age to use them. Her employer (the NHS!!) will not process a repayment and she has moved trusts. Effectively the money had gone and will be kept by the voucher provider.