Should parents pay nanny's for the nanny to take them out?

You can't be a self employed nanny, working for one family with set hours/employer dictating the rate of pay. What this nurse is doing is illegal. I can gob smacked at how cheeky she is in suggesting that you pay for her DC's days out and expenses. Unbelievable! You could attempt to speak to her but, ultimately, you will probably need to leave @NannyL24.

Already said but they give you a credit card and you keep all the receipts (make copies jic) on your camera.Keep a list as well of dates/amounts. Family then pay off (or not) the card each month. All purchases eg ice cream, drinks etc on the card. Buy anything for yourself out of your own money. These parents sound the sort who will pick thro the bills questioning why 3 ice creams or 3 bottles of water. Look for another job.

You can't be a self employed nanny, and that's not how tax returns work. You would not be reimbursed by the government for taking the children for days out. You need to wise up OP they are taking you for a ride.

Start job hunting while you sit in the garden and watch bored children that you can’t take to educational places because the parents are too stingy.

The parents sound awful. You have no financial protection for anything and no pension.

You deserve better. They will moan at the slightest thing. Get out before they do.

Op. If they won't pay for the trips them you simply don't take the kids out on trips. A reasonable person doesn't ask the nanny to pay for their kids trips. And no you don't get it paid back in your tax return. You log legitimate expenses that gets calculated and your tax bill is worked out on this, you don't get money back as such and as far as I know entrance fees for the places you take the kids to are not counted as expenses but I'm not an expert on this. Go online and search it or call hmrc and once you have the info send her the link so she can see what she said is incorrect as well.

This makes no sense. Even if you did put it through as tax deductible expenses, you would still be out of pocket! It might reduce how much tax you pay but the reduction wouldn’t even come close to offsetting the costs.

It drives me up the wall that some people who employ a nanny do not do it properly, yet they are in secure salaried jobs!!
As has been said, you should be employed and the employer should be paying HMRC NI and tax etc plus your pension! I pay a payroll company to manage that side so I know exactly what I should be paying!

i employ a nanny and the contract is very clear - what they are paid, and what is expensed. We agree each holiday what ‘bigger day trips’ will be done and I buy the tickets. (For my children and her entry) For smaller expenses (ice creams etc) and mileage she will note it all down and it’s paid at month end. I often give some cash at the holidays for small expenses but many places are card only so doesn’t really work all the time.

Employing a nanny is expensive (particularly with the NI increases this month) but it is wrong they are trying to impact you financially for their children!! Plus you should be entitled to annual leave, sick leave and redundancy- all of which you won’t be as self employed!!

Years ago I qualified as a Nanny and subsequently worked as one before changing career, employer paid for everything. As others have said you need to find another job, you’re clearly being taken advantage of.
I would advise you contact and speak to your local Citizens Advice office. It’s a free service and will give you accurate advice

Parents pay for everything.
They either give you a set amount of cash or pre-loaded card per week/ month which you account for with receipts
Otherwise you stay home or only do free things.

This would really put me off working for someone - be firm & be prepared to start job hunting if they get to pushy

They’re taking you for a ride! I was a nanny years ago and not only did they pay for any trips and treats for myself and the children but they were completely above board paying my NI etc. I’ve honestly never heard of a self employed nanny.
Do you at least have a contract? Also, if they’re classing you as self employed, do you not get paid annual leave etc?
I’d get some legal advice if I were you. Either that, or I’d be looking for another job with a decent employer!
But no, you absolutely shouldn’t be footing the bill for the kid’s outings!

'Employing' a nanny

You’re missing the point here. Your employers should be paying employer national insurance on your wages, which they are evading. That’s illegal and technically money laundering. Whether you’re employed or not is a matter of tax law.

This is incredibly dodgy. The fact you are registered as self employed doesn't make it all correct. It means you aren't cheating the system (unless you believe their lies when they try to make you cooperate with some dodgy accounting when it comes to tax and expenses) but they are definitely cheating both you and HMRC. They are bad people.

You are misunderstanding. Legally, you cannot work for a single employer, with hours, rate of pay, and place of work dictated by them, and be self-employed. You just can't.

If you are employed, your employers should be paying employer's National Insurance contributions as well as you paying employee National Insurance contributions. They should have insurance. They should be doing your payroll.

Regardless of what you think, it is not legal for you to be 'self-employed' in this job.

I always gave my nanny money for entrances and money for lunch and definitely including her.

you need to tell her this is the way it will be or you won’t be taking them anywhere or will nanny someone else’s kids. Honestly you’re the one with all the cards in your hand - very hard to get Nannie’s these days

You might want to have a read of this:

https://www.nannytax.co.uk/self-employment

from how you have described your role it doesn’t seem as if you can possiblY Be defined as self employed - you’re an employee and therefore entitled to holiday pay, sick pay, maternity pay etc

She is wrong, that's not how it works.If you're self employed, let's say you made £25,000. You have £12,570 personal allowance, which you don't have to pay tax on. That leaves £12,430, and you pay about 20% tax on that which is £2486 tax.

If you claim expenses, that reduces your profit. So for example, if you made £25,000 and claimed £1000 in expenses for trips, travel etc, then your profit is £24,000. Deduct your personal allowance, leaving £11,430. Around 20% tax on that is £2286.

So you claimed £1000 in expenses, but your taxes only reduced by £200. You don't get your expenses money back. It just reduces the profit on which you are taxed. Hope that makes sense.

If they're asking you to take children somewhere that costs money, then they should pay. If they don't want that, then don't take them out. Hopefully their parents do something different with them occasionally when they're off work though.

They should give you the money up front to cover outings for the 3 of you. Outrageous not to.

Not sure, my childminder generally takes mine out and we don’t pay, never even thought of it!

she does have copies of our zoo pass, and otherwise has lots of childminder passes which means she can take any 3-4 children. I assume she claims these back on her taxes. She uses them for her own children too.

she also finds lots of free activities ! Obviously a childminder is different to a nanny so maybe that’s where the confusion is

As others have said, this is absolutely wrong.
id be having a very clear conversation about what they think you can claim back, because it isn’t this. And how trips etc should be paid for if they want you to take the children.

I think I’d also be looking for a new job.

How many days a week are you nannying? Are you full time / live in?

Is there anything you can do that is within walking distance?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-employment-status-for-tax

I recommend the OP takes a look at this.

Expenses such as trips out cannot be offset against tax, btw.

It's simple isn't it then - just take them to free local places and take a pack lunch for all 3 of you unless she has an issue with that. Or you leave.

You may be registered as a self-employed Nanny but that doesn’t mean it’s legal. From what you have described you absolutely do not fit the legal criteria for self-employment. The parent is a nurse who works shifts, where you are required to change your hours to cover her shifts. This alone means that you cannot be classed as self employed.

A Nanny can only be self-employed in rare situations - for example does lots of temp positions, sickness cover, works for several families, chooses their own hours when they are available, sets their own hourly rate etc.

Im less worried about paying for trips. More concerned about the following - are you:

• Paid at least minimum wage?
• Getting 5.6 weeks of paid holiday per year?

The average Nanny pay in the UK is £12.21-£15 ph for an unqualified, less experienced Nanny. Then £15-20ph for a more qualified/experienced Nanny. Obviously this will vary a little on the region.

However if for some reason you do qualify for being self-employed (have you checked with HMRC, or just decided yourself?) then you should be setting your own hourly rate, when you are available for work, invoicing her every month for your hours and any additional costs you have accrued. And your hourly rate should be much higher than minimum wage because you need to cover periods of unpaid holiday, sickness, pension, your own admin costs to do your own accounts etc.

Time to sit down and have a very frank conversation with your boss. If they aren’t willing to pay you properly as an employee then you should look for a new job.