Tax Free Childcare

Information for providers

Tax Free Childcare supports working parents with childcare costs. For every £8 paid into an online account by a family the government will add an additional £2, up to £2000 per year per child. This increases to £4000 for children with a disability. Information about who is eligible and how parents apply is available.

How it works 

Families accessing the scheme use an online account which is used to pay their fees directly to you, this works the same way as online banking and there is no cost to providers. 

Providers can only receive these payments if they have signed up to the scheme. It takes about 10 minutes to set up which then enables families to take up this government support at your setting. Information about getting started, signing up and identifying payments is available on the Childcare Choices Website.

Information for families including how to apply and make payments is available on the Childcare Choices Website. 

Other support

Tax Free Childcare is part of a package of support including Universal Credit and the early years entitlements that is availabe to help parents with childcare costs. Families can use the childcare calculator to check what support is available and suits their circumstances.