Tax Free Childcare unanswered Questions

jhinks37 · 8 January 2018 at 11:20PM

Hi all,

Me and my partner are expecting a baby and already worried about childcare costs!! Two quick questions I can't see the answer to In the MSE guide for Tax-free Childcare.

1. Can you start paying in to the 'account' as soon as the baby is born or is it only when they are actually in Childcare?

2. Once it's in the account do you choose when it goes to the provider or does it have to be part of a regular payment?

Thanks for any help,

jbainbridge · 8 January 2018 at 11:52PM

I salary sacrifice at work into the Kiddivouchers scheme.

1. You can pay in any time - just subject to the monthly maximum.

2. Just pay out as and when. Our costs vary month to month.

Think of it like a savings scheme ... the only restriction is that you can only pay for nursery, child care etc. with it.

cyantist · 9 January 2018 at 12:26PM

I assume all schemes work like jbainbridge explains, though I'm in the same scheme as them and have no experience of others.

There are just a couple of things to consider with paying in as soon as they are born:
1) is there any chance at all one of you won't be returning to work? I was always planning on going back to work but towards the end of my pregnancy my old work made it impossible for me to do so, luckily I found a better job but if I hadn't I'd still be at home with my daughter with no use for the vouchers I'd paid for. Plenty of my other new mom friends who were adamant they needed to return to work (for their sanity and financial reasons) are now planning not to.
2) do you know who the childcare provider will be - almost all accept childcare vouchers but there are some that don't

Bean83 · 9 January 2018 at 3:53PM

The above replies relate to childcare vouchers, not tax-free childcare (subtle but important differences!!) If you mean the tax-free childcare account where you pay money in and government tops up, then my answers are:

1. You can pay in any time; however, there is a cap on how much the government will top up (up to £2000 per child per year). If you subsequently decide not to use childcare, you can simply withdraw what you’ve paid in (obviously you don’t get to withdraw the government top up!)

2. You can make payments whenever you like, they don’t have to be regular. I just login and pay mine whenever the bill comes, rather than have it going out on a set date.

jhinks37 · 10 January 2018 at 9:43PM

Thanks All.

Bean you have answered exactly what I was wondering, thank you!

Tax Free Childcare unanswered Questions

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free