Tax-free childcare for working parents of 0-11 year olds
Tax-free childcare is for working parents of children from 0-11 years old (0-16 years old for disabled children). It is a Government scheme to help eligible working families save on their childcare costs, including the self-employed.
- For every £8 paid into an account, the Government will add £2 (£4 for a disabled child), up to £2,000 per year per child (£4,000 for disabled children).
- Parents pay the childcare provider from their account.
How does it work?
Eligible working parents and carers can open online childcare accounts to pay registered childcare providers directly. It works in a similar way to an online bank account.
This can amount to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each child to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year).
For every £8 paid into an account, the Government will add £2 (£4 for a disabled child), and up to the total amount in the account can be paid to a childcare provider.
The maximum that can be paid into an account each year is £8,000 and the maximum that will be received from the Government is £2,000 (£4,000 for disabled children).
Parents can open an individual account for each child they pay childcare for. For example, if you have three children, you can open three tax-free childcare accounts and deposit up to £8,000 into each.
Only a parent or carer can set up a tax-free childcare account. Parents, friends, family and employers can then deposit money into the account.
For further information visit Childcare Choices and Tax-Free Childcare - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Tax-Free Childcare replaces the Employer Childcare Voucher schemes which is no longer open to new applicants. Parents (employees) control the Tax-Free Childcare rather than employers signing up to voucher schemes.
Frequently asked questions
If you've got a question on childcare funding our frequently asked questions might already have the answer you're looking for.
