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

worrier99

Hello all,
Totally new here, so apologies f I do this wrong or if this has been raised before.
Basically, I have been buying childcare vouchers, through lockdown and still now, as you needed to keep the account active and we were using them when possible and because it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to refund them if I ever didn't need them. My kids are older now and there is an extremely short list of places we can use them.

So I enquired about getting the outstanding amount refunded and have been told by the provider it needs to be authorised by the business and there is a 10% admin charge (for what I don't know). So I spoke to my business and have been told they do not do refunds. I am now facing the prospect of losing over £2,000 unless I find some complicated, awkward and unnecessary way of using the vouchers.

How is this fair? I promise I was never made aware of this as a potential issue. Had I known I would have stopped buying them, although you have to keep buying them as they close a dormant account!! I've now read lots about childcare vouchers and can't find this issue publicised anywhere, even on this forum / article. If anyone can help I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

sheramber

The position regarding refunding vouchers should be stated in the contract you have with the voucher company.

Some  state no refunds.

Some will refund but it needs the employers agreement as tax and NIC have to be accounted for. 

An employer may not have a payroll system that can deal with that.  

There have been threads on here about this and someone did set up a petition but I don't think it got enough support.

worrier99

sheramber said:

The position regarding refunding vouchers should be stated in the contract you have with the voucher company.

Some  state no refunds.

Some will refund but it needs the employers agreement as tax and NIC have to be accounted for. 

An employer may not have a payroll system that can deal with that.  

There have been threads on here about this and someone did set up a petition but I don't think it got enough support.

Thank you Sheramber, I appreciate you commenting. 

I am sure you are right and it was in the small print somewhere, but I am just baffled about how nothing is said about it. The business put the hard sell on all the benefits they offer but none of the downsides. No advice was given when I kept saving without spending for 12-18 months during Covid. And then, what even happens to the money? Is being a childcare voucher provider the quickest way to being a millionaire.

Just seems so wrong and can't believe more isn't said about it. Even on Martin Lewis on TV the other night, told everyone to apply for childcare vouchers, no warning to say make sure you use them all.

Again, thank you for responding.

sheramber

Someone else reported that they were told unused voucher money  would be donated to charity.

IT might be worthwhile reading this

https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/payepe/0ec91153-2ba9-ed11-9ac4-00155d9c773d

Sillychuckie

I'm unclear how the childcare voucher contribution limits are applied.
I have read the following, but still have a question.



I'm a high rate tax payer, but I know that earlier in this tax year, I barely purchased any vouchers (£10 only, for 3 consecutive months). I now find myself needing far more than I have, so, can I exceed the £124 this month and order more? I know I wont breach the £1484 annual limit, but it would breach the £124 monthly one.

The text in the image above explains taht the "entitlement will apply for the whole of that tax year", but if that is the case, I'm confused why everywhere seems to quote the monthly limit amount. Is that simply for convenience to help people calculate what 'annual / 12' is?

So I guess in summary, my question is simply:
Can I purchase more than the monthly limit, if I do no tbreach the annual limit?

sheramber

Sillychuckie said:

I'm unclear how the childcare voucher contribution limits are applied.
I have read the following, but still have a question.



I'm a high rate tax payer, but I know that earlier in this tax year, I barely purchased any vouchers (£10 only, for 3 consecutive months). I now find myself needing far more than I have, so, can I exceed the £124 this month and order more? I know I wont breach the £1484 annual limit, but it would breach the £124 monthly one.

The text in the image above explains taht the "entitlement will apply for the whole of that tax year", but if that is the case, I'm confused why everywhere seems to quote the monthly limit amount. Is that simply for convenience to help people calculate what 'annual / 12' is?

So I guess in summary, my question is simply:
Can I purchase more than the monthly limit, if I do no tbreach the annual limit?

If your employer allows it. It is called backdating

https://www.employersforchildcare.org/news-item/backdating-childcare-vouchers-explained-2/

Sillychuckie

Thank you. My employer has declined my request to backdate childcare vouchers - they say they do not support it, that it is not common practise, and that it was used under limited circumstances by some employers, predominantly after the pandemic. I found a good video on the subject from YouTube also, entitled 'Useful Information For Employers'.
This is a bit of a shame, given that it is within HMRCs rules - but, I guess I'm at a dead end.
I complete a tax return annually, but I don't think there is any way to even reclaim them there. It would have been useful if HMRC added a box such as:

"Childcare voucher contributions which exceeded monthly allowance, but fall within annual allowance, assuming employer doesn't support backdating".   (a bit of a mouthful, I know).
That way, they could let me have a tax break on that small amount.

Oh well. Lesson learned.
Running with too much credit is risky in other ways (refunds anyone?). I think I'll have to pay with post-tax cash for this latest half-term camp.    Booo!