Tories stealth cut to support for childcare costs

[pinkelephant73]

Worrying Telegraph report on "new" Government help with childcare costs.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9784012/Working-mothers-to-get-child-care-tax-break-worth-thousands-of-pounds.html

Article states

"Families could be entitled to claim up to £2,000 per child every year from their tax bills to cover the cost of childminders and nurseries as part of a new government scheme to help families. "

Its not clear what this means - is it an extra tax allowance? If so it would compare very unfavourably with the existing (Labour introduced) tax free childcare voucher scheme which it would replace. Currently families can claim up to £2880 tax free vouchers per working parent per year. The article states "the scheme will see all working women becoming entitled to claim a flat rate tax allowance to cover the costs of paying someone to look after their children". So no tax allowance for working fathers? Nice.

Another slap in the face for working families after the child benefit fiasco.

Looks good on paper but as you point out, no tax break for working fathers. As we all know, working mothers are in the minority and those that do work are often in part time roles. So this will save them a fortune.

Yet another way of hitting those who can least afford it.

How will this work for single fathers with full residency?

Sorry, when I said that working mothers are in the minority, I meant in relation to working fathers.

I'm assuming working mothers as its more likely to have full time working dad and part time mum. So the tax alllowance goes to mum so its used - otherwise they are assuming mum is at home caring for child.

More unlikely to have full time working mum and part time dad. But yes I agree not very fair.

it also says £2000 per child, so if more than 1 child that would be £4000. At the moment we can only get £124 per month as DH is self employed so sounds very interesting to me!!!

I can't really understand how this is supposed to work in practice. I read it as if it applies to working mothers who already have a working partner to encourage them back into the workforce rather than staying at home. You would hope that it applies to either parent as long as they are both working.

But I could well be wrong.

YANBU

Fathers can already currently claim childcare vouchers as well as the mother.

So if it's only one parent then it's is a huge cut.

Do they think we're stupid? don't answer that, I know the answer

What about single Dads? Widowers? Another poorly thought out cut by the Tories. We currently get two full allowances of childcare vouchers.

Childcare vouchers were stopped ages ago, weren't they? You can only continue to claim if you were already?

No childcare vouchers are still alive - they just stopped HR tax payers who joined the scheme getting the full tax saving.

Vouchers also can be used for aftercare/holiday care upto 16, this new idea seems to be for 5 and under ??

I don't think they would be able to make this only for mothers, directly opposes the sex discrimination laws. Surely that must be the articles phrasing?

You can still claim vouchers, I have been doing so since May last year, and my company still offers them as part of our benefit package. But as a higher rate tax payer I can no longer recoup the full tax savings :(

Crossed, Dixie!

Yes, above posters are correct that childcare vouchers do still exist and both parents can claim up to £240 per month in vouchers, which means tax relief on £2880 of income for a lone parent or £5760 for a two parent family, no matter how many children you have.

Under the new scheme it seems that "working mothers" only (not fathers) would get tax relief on up to £2000 of income per child - so anyone who is currently in the childcare voucher scheme and spending over £2000 per annum on childcare for each child will lose out.

At the moment DH and I are spending £5000 per annum on childcare for DD (3 days a week) so we will lose out quite substantially, and I know many nurserires and childminders especially in London and the South East charge more than this so a lot of parents will be worse off as a result.

I also find it infuriating, and quite 1984 like, that this is being publicised as help for working families, when it is giving us a fiver with one hand and taking a tenner off us with the other.