Child care vouchers

Ivesy

Hi

My son will be going to nursery soon for two half days a week costing about £50 per week.

I know I can do salary sacrifice through work to get the vouchers through them but wondered what help can we get through WFTC?

I work full time and the Mrs works part time.

Any advice would be appreciated as we haven't done this before !!

Thanks

salau2

You may be able to claim support for childcare (childcare element) on tax credits. If you already claim tax credits telephone HMRC and inform them of the change of circumstances. Please note that the childcare provider needs to be registered – Ofsted Early Years register if child aged less than 5. Check that the provider is registered then apply. You have 30 days to appeal a decision.

Icequeen99

Ivesy wrote: »

Hi

My son will be going to nursery soon for two half days a week costing about £50 per week.

I know I can do salary sacrifice through work to get the vouchers through them but wondered what help can we get through WFTC?

I work full time and the Mrs works part time.

Any advice would be appreciated as we haven't done this before !!

Thanks

You need to work out whether you are better off taking vouchers or claiming through tax credits.

You have to deduct the amount you get in vouchers from your childcare costs for tax credits. On the other hand, your income is lower for tax credit purposes.

HMRC have a childcare indicator on their website where you can enter the details. But a lot depends on whether your tax credits are based on your previous year income or current year income.

I would suggest you get advice from someone like Citizens Advice or taxaid.

IQ

kris1893

You could get an estimate from the helpline or CAB; other calculators out there (including HMRC's very own online one!) can give unreliable estimates. If you can have your household income for 10-11 and and estimate for 11-12 they should be able to work out what %age, if any, of childcare costs that would be covered. If that is more than the %age covered by CC vouchers (which depends on what tax band your in of course) then that's the way to go!