Universal Credit and Tax-free Childcare

richard.millington82

Hi,
I just learned that I can't claim Universal Credit and Tax-free Childcare at the same time. Does anyone know how I can work out which one will be better to claim? I wondered if there's some sort of way of establishing how much childcare costs I would get back from a UC claim, and then comparing that with how much I would save if I went for Tax-free Childcare instead of UC. TIA

huckster

Use an online benefit calculator such as Entitledto or Turn2us. to see how much UC you would be entitled to.
UC reimburses childcare costs paid at 85%, but they add the Childcare to the benefit amounts, before they deduct for employment earnings.  So you might have to do a bit of maths to work it out.

UC also has maximum amounts for Childcare per monthly assessment period (shown below)

Childcare costs amount
Maximum for one child		£1031.88
Maximum for two or more children		£1768.94