Tax-Free Childcare

Highbury Primary School and Nursery are set up to receive childcare payments through the Tax-Free Childcare scheme.

You can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children 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).

If you get Tax-Free Childcare, you’ll set up an online childcare account for your child. For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider.

You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 30 hours free childcare if you’re eligible for both.

What you can use Tax-Free Childcare for

You can use it to pay for approved childcare, for example:

childminders, nurseries and nannies
after school clubs and play schemes

Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from Tax-Free Childcare.

If your child is disabled

You can use the extra Tax-Free Childcare money you get to help pay for extra hours of childcare. You can also use it to help pay your childcare provider, so they can get specialist equipment for your child such as mobility aids. Talk to them about what equipment your child can get.

Eligibility

Your eligibility depends on:

if you are working
your income (and your partner’s income, if you have one)
your child’s age and circumstances
your immigration status

If you are working

You can usually get Tax-Free Childcare if you (and your partner, if you have one) are:

in work
on sick leave or annual leave
on shared parental, maternity, paternity or adoption leave

If you’re on adoption leave, you cannot apply for the child you’re on leave for unless you’re going back to work within 31 days of the date you first applied.

Your income

Over the next 3 months you and your partner (if you have one) must each expect to earn at least:

£1,976 if you’re aged 23 or over
£1,909 if you’re aged 21 or 22
£1,420 if you’re aged 18 to 20
£1,000 if you’re under 18 or an apprentice

This is at least the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average.

You can use an average of how much you expect to earn over the current tax year if:

you work throughout the year but do not get paid regularly
you’re self-employed and do not expect to earn enough in the next 3 months

If you’re self-employed and started your business less than 12 months ago, you can earn less and still be eligible for Tax-Free Childcare.

If you’re not currently working

You may still be eligible if your partner is working, and you get Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance.

You can apply if you’re starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days.

If you have a partner

You must include your partner in your application if you are:

married or in a civil partnership and live together
not married or in a civil partnership, but living together as though you are

Their employment and income will not affect your eligibility if they:

are or will be absent from your household for more than 6 months
are a prisoner

If you are separated

You and your ex-partner need to decide who should apply if you are jointly responsible for your child.

If you cannot decide, both of you must apply separately and HMRC will decide who gets a childcare account.

Apply

If you apply for Tax-Free Childcare and someone else already gets 30 hours free childcare for that child, their 30 hours will stop at the end of the next term. You will be eligible for 30 hours free childcare instead.

Apply online for Tax-Free Childcare