Working parents are urged not to miss the opportunity to get up to £2,000 a year to help pay for regulated childcare, including holiday clubs and other extra-curricular activities, during holidays of summer.
The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Tax-Free Childcare scheme offers thousands of eligible working families up to £500 every three months, or £1,000 if their child is disabled, to cover the cost of childcare clubs. holidays, before and after school. clubs, nannies and nurseries, and other licensed childcare programs, reports the Daily Record.
For every £8 deposited into a Tax-Free Childcare online account, families will receive an additional £2 top-up from the UK government, and it’s available for children up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability .
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In the UK, 512,415 families used Tax-Free Childcare in the 2021 to 2022 tax year, compared to 374,135 in the 2020 to 2021 tax year.
However, HMRC warns that hundreds of thousands of families could be missing out, with recent research estimating that around 1.3million families could be eligible for this UK government help.
Parents and guardians are advised to check their eligibility and register for Tax-Free Childcare via GOV.UK, here.
Myrtle Lloyd, Director General of Customer Services at HMRC, said: ‘Duty-free childcare can make a big difference to families, helping to pay the bills for things like nurseries, childminders and after-school clubs.
Helen Whately, HM Treasury Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: ‘It’s fantastic that more parents are embracing duty-free childcare. This aid helps working families pay childcare costs.
“With over a million families eligible, I want to encourage parents to take advantage of duty-free childcare and keep the extra pounds in their pocket.”
How does duty-free childcare work?
The scheme offers a UK government-funded 20% top-up on money deposited into tax-free childcare accounts, which can be used to pay their childcare provider.
Accounts can be opened at any time of the year and can be used immediately, and money can be deposited at any time and used when needed.
For example, if parents and guardians have school-aged children and use vacation clubs during school vacations, they could deposit money into their accounts throughout the year. This means they could split the childcare costs while still getting the 20% top-up. Any unused money that is deposited can simply be withdrawn at any time.
Preschoolers
Tax-Free Childcare is also available for preschoolers attending nurseries, childminders, or other childcare providers.
Families with young children will often have higher childcare costs than families with older children, so tax-free savings can really make a difference.
Childcare providers can also open a Childcare Provider Account through GOV.UK to receive payments from parents and guardians through the scheme.
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-06-18 14:17:17
