Childcare Costs discussion

sky_rat · 21 July 2009 at 5:08PM

Could someone please clarify the total household income figure to qualify for childcare tax credit ?

I know the limit is under £40,000.

But is this value NET or GROSS income ?

fifelass_2 · 21 July 2009 at 6:51PM

bestmumof3 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

I will be a post-grad student - doing Primary Teaching. It will only be for 10 months so it should be quick. I am guaranteed a full-time probationary year next year, therefore I will be earning a full time wage.

Two of my children are at school, therefore it will be after school for them. The youngest is 3 and is at childminders, just part-time just now. Although that will increase to full-time end August. University is quite a bit of travelling and I will have 4 placements throughout so it will not really be worthwhile putting him into the uni nursery.

Hubbie will be entitled to Tax Credits just not any help with childcare costs. If I could get any form of employment for 16 hours a week I will receive help.

HI,

I assume that you are doing this in Scotland (mention of probationary year)? You can apply to the University hardship fund for help with childcare costs. This is the method the Scottish government is using to help students with childcare. It's not automatic and you will need to supply a budget to go with it. I would phone the student hardship fund people at your university.

England is I believe slightly different but not sure how/what.

karimk8 · 29 July 2009 at 3:27PM

Hi,

I am a 24 year old father of one. My daughter starts full-time education in September whilst I start my new career as trainee secondary education teacher.

I am no longer with the mother of my child who claims income support and child benefits for our daughter.

I was wondering if I was entitled to claim working child tax credits or benefits myself in any other way?

I earn less than £18k before tax and pay for my daughter to take part in summer schools and extra curricular activities. Any help with this matter would be much appreciated.

Thank you

missred · 20 January 2010 at 3:24PM

my daughter will be 3yrs in august so she will be able to get 15hrs a week free childcare at either a nursery playschool or childminders, this part i get.
she is already at a childminders full time so i could use the free hours just to reduce that cost. although our childminder is great i do feel LO is ready for nursery.
what i would like to know is if i sign and get LO in to a nursery and PAYED for a 2.5 hr session @ aprox £7 for 5 days a wk (which works out cheaper than childminder for same amount of time) could i choose to use free hrs to pay part of childminder cost or would i have to use them to pay for the nursery costs or would it have to be a playschool or childcare provider not a nursery attached to a school.

Fliss_M · 21 January 2010 at 9:35PM

provided your childminder takes them you can use them on which ever you like. You just cant use them twice ;-)

Teenie_D · 21 January 2010 at 10:05PM

Am I the only one who is REALLY confused by all this??

On another thread I was told that I could only use the funded hours for the time my wee one would actually be in a nursery placement (2.5 hrs per day)-she is in normal day care for 2.5 days a week-and it would not go towards her everday childcare costs! (that is unless I totally picked it up wrong which really woudn't surprise me in the slightest lol!)

DeepBlue_2 · 21 April 2010 at 8:34AM

This may be a niche opportunity, but if the childcare provision is majority funded/operated by your employer, then the FULL costs of the nursery care can be offset against Tax and NI (so long as the remaing pay is greater than minimum wage). There are, as ever, complications and small print etc. but for anyone whose employer does (or could) run a registered childcare setting, the Workplace Nursery Scheme is a recognised salary sacrifice scheme that could save you even more tax and NI...

DeepBlue_2 · 21 April 2010 at 8:40AM

missred wrote: »

my daughter will be 3yrs in august so she will be able to get 15hrs a week free childcare at either a nursery playschool or childminders, this part i get.
she is already at a childminders full time so i could use the free hours just to reduce that cost. although our childminder is great i do feel LO is ready for nursery.
what i would like to know is if i sign and get LO in to a nursery and PAYED for a 2.5 hr session @ aprox £7 for 5 days a wk (which works out cheaper than childminder for same amount of time) could i choose to use free hrs to pay part of childminder cost or would i have to use them to pay for the nursery costs or would it have to be a playschool or childcare provider not a nursery attached to a school.

Local Authority attached nurseries (depending on the exact arrangement) would typically insist on receiving all the funding. If your LO is at a Private/Voluntary/Independent (PVI) nursery and also at a childminder, where you use your funding is entirely up to you (but generally no more than 2 providers... though this might be a local thing)

puddin81 · 24 July 2010 at 11:32AM

hi can anbody help please. me and my partner have a joint income of £38000 per annum and our childcare is going to cost £615 per month and is a set rate. we both work full time could any one tell me how much childcare cost we are entitled to recieve back
many thanks

GobbledyGook · 24 July 2010 at 12:38PM

whmon wrote: »

There is a massive scam ongoing with the Children's aspect of Working Tax Credits that must be costing the country millions. I own a Children's Day nursery and recently discovered that an ex-employee was/is? claiming £1000 per month in nursery fees for her 2 children against my registration number (and having 3 foreign holidays per year with the proceeds). In actual fact, her 2 children rarely attended the nursery.

This is how the scam works; parents simply log on to the Ofsted website, click onto the details of any nursery or childminder they wish, record the registration number and then contact Working Families Tax Credits giving the registration number and details of their (fabricated) costs.

That's all it takes! After that, the money is paid into their bank accounts and they can continue to e.g share childcare between them as they work shifts or get grannie to watch the children for free etc. The nursery who's registration number they are using knows nothing about it.

I have owned my nursery for three years now. Not once, ever, have I been contacted by the powers that be to confirm attendance or even registration at this nursery. I am one small nursery owner in the North-East, I have no idea how many children are falsely registered against my number, no idea how many thousands of pounds per month may be being paid out through our taxes against my nursery registration number. How many in the country???

This is well known. There is a team from Tax Credits working exclusively on this at the moment. People are being caught out left, right and centre and are having to pay this money back.

Now new claims will be checked before the childcare element is paid out.

The biggest scammers are actually the ones claiming the money, putting the child into childcare and then not paying the childcare bill. They are having the best of both worlds.

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Childcare Costs discussion

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