Nanny tax help

[Botero]

I know the issues of nanny tax have been done to death on here. I have trailed through the archives reading tons of posts but I'm still slightly confused and would really appreciate some help.

I have found a position for a aupair ++/nanny which sounds perfect for me. The family would like to interview me in the next few days. The family asked my salary expectations.
I suggested a net rate,I think I should have suggested gross but the issue of net vs gross with regards to nanny employment seems to be a grey area.
The family got back to me and said that once the other things they had to pay were added on to my net salary it would be too expensive for them.
I went on to the nanny tax website and worked it out and they had worked out a much higher figure than the one I did.
I think it may have been me who has worked it out incorrectly.
If I were to get net pay of £220pw would the total cost of this to the parents be £285? This is what I worked out on nanny tax.

TIA

Which tax code were you using?

Do you have a student loan?

I get £285 total cost including employer's NI on a normal tax code, gross salary of £265. On tax code BR that goes up to £326/week.

HOWEVER they may also be factoring in paying you for mileage, payroll, kitty etc and all the other hidden expenses of employing a nanny.

I don't know what my tax code is. How would I find that out?
Yes, I do have a student loan. I graduated last year.

I think the hidden expenses is what I haven't taken into account. I don't drive so there are no car related costs. I will be living in. What is payroll?

Payroll is a fee (usually about £115) that the parents pay to a company like Nannytax to sort out your tax and NI.

Nannynick did a great breakdown but the additional cost is about £7k a year. The heating/lighting/food were guesstimates for a live out nanny.

Will it be your only job? If so then you have a 647L tax code (not BR) and the £285 is accurate.

Would you be using your own car (40p/mile) or theirs (approx £500 hike to insure early twenties nanny on a family car plus petrol)?

Would you be eligible to be paid via childcare vouchers (aka are you/would you be prepared to be registered with OFSTED)?

This thread is the breakdown. Bear in mind your salary will be a total cost to them of about £15k (no student loan deductions though) and then add that £7k on. So call it £21k total cost a year and it works out to about £350 a week. Does that sound closer to their figure?

It would be my only job.

No car to take into account. I am not a driver.

I am not registered with OFSTED. This is a temporary job for me for one year. I am not a career nanny. I don't know what requirements OFSTED have to become registered and if it would be worth it for such a small timescale.

They were suggesting it would cost about 400pw.

I'm really unsure now about what to do. I thought from looking at other adverts and websites that the amount I suggested as net pay was normal. I'm wondering if £220 net is too much now.

Well it depends what hours you're working whether £220 net is too much.

Even as a non-career nanny you should consider OFSTED registration if it would benefit the parents. You should have a paediatric 1st aid certificate and nanny insurance in any case if you're working as a nanny. Morton Michel costs around £70 for a year's cover.

Unless your degree was childcare related and on the approved list you'd be looking at a basic childcare course as well - either the new CYPOP5 from the Diploma in the Children and Young People's Workforce or MNT's distance learning course - which is a good idea to take anyway as it covers quite a lot of basic but important stuff you just don't pick up through experience.

Can you ask them what the breakdown on £400pw is?

They may know from experience how much a live in nanny costs in food, heating, lighting etc or be planning to give you a very large kitty.

If I get this job I'm due to start and need to start very soon so I don't have time to do those things unfortunately.
The hours per week are about 52 plus 2 nights babysitting. There are 2 children. One at full time school and the other on half day pre school.
My degree was not childcare related. I have worked as an aupair, a mothers help and a sole charge after school nanny including over night care. These were all paid cash in hand and I was a student at the time.
I get the feeling (although I may be wrong) that the family would like to pay me cash in hand. It feels wrong to do so now I know the law and that it is illegal. I don't want to get into trouble.

Don't go cash in had for a perm job, you miss our on pension contributions etc. £220 for those hours sounds more than reasonable. I, too, suspect they're just trying to get out of sorting the tax and NI, which means they'd probably mess you around with holidays etc too. As a student I suspect you were earning under the threshold anyway - most are. I remember being outraged when I had to pay tax as a student one year (being a good girl and declaring my SE income), which was when I discovered the joy of business expenses

Insurance takes 5 minutes to sort before you start the job and even if you don't have a paeds 1st aid you really, really need that if you're nannying.

Get yourself onto a 1st aid course one weekend too, just for peace of mind.

OFSTED registration does take time but on the flipside parents can bank the vouchers so it doesn't need to come through immediately. Bring it up with them - they're less likely to mess you around if you mention OFSTED.

Thanks for taking time to reply.

I did a first aid course earlier this year. It wasn't specifically for children but it did cover that area as well as others.

I will have a look into OFSTED registration. I will also look into the insurance side of things.

Feeling in a horrible situation right now as I desperately need to start work and to live in and this is the only role I found where I meet the familie's criteria and they meet mine.

I have just seen that OFSTED registration is just over £100. I really really can't afford that. I can just manage my train fare to the city they live in as I am relocating.

General rule is family pay the OFSTED regstration fee as they benefit from it.

If you don't have a paeds specific 1st Aid you'd need to redo that though, so it may not be worth your while but for heaven's sake (and your own) be insured. It's not worth the risk of not being and costs just over a fiver a month.

Anything else I can help with so I can procrastinate a bit more in a semilegitimate way?

I love your form of procrastination. Mine usually involves mumsnet too. .

I don't think I need anymore help right now as I'm just waiting for the family to email back. I'm sure I will be back asking more questions though.

Thanks

I spend too much time on MN. Weren't you looking to be in London? A name-changed regular?

Are there really no other suitable jobs starting soon?

Yes, I'm a name changing regular. I'm looking to move to London. I'm originally from there but I'm living in the city I moved to for university.
I was looking for aupair jobs but this nanny job sounded good. I started an aupair job a few weeks ago but it was awful and came back to this city. I didn't meet the family before I agreed to the job. We really were not compatible.

A nanny job is starting to sound better for me than a aupair job. The majority of the live in roles seem to be full time with 2 or more young children who are not in school or nursery. I feel that this may be too much.

I assume you're scouring nannyjob, gumtree, netmums and the like? Are you signed up with any agencies? Greataupair have a few in/around London too.

I think so many 'au pair' jobs are misadvertised when they're really nanny jobs but you'd probably struggle getting a job that's not with 2 preschoolers - otherwise a nanny just isn't that cost-effective. That said the ones I just scanned on greataupair seem pretty reasonable. I particularly like one which says 'we don't need a cook cleaner and babysitter'. Then again some are ambitiously requiring English, French and Hebrew!