How to find a tax code for a care.com new nanny so I can pay her via tax free childcare account

[DNH]

Dear all,
I and my kids really like our new nanny, but cannot afford her wages without tax-free childcare.
Any prompt advice would be appreciated; we are waiting eagerly for a response.

You need to ask the nanny if she has signed up for the scheme.

Is she ofstead registered and signed up with the scheme?

Hi, she said care.com will not provide her with one until 1 yr has passed

No, but she is a 1st yr Uni student.
She said she will contact Uni if they can manage a tax code for her.
Not sure if this will be possible

Care.com are not responsible for this, she has to register for these things herself. Has she not got previous experience in this job?

You need to read up on this stuff a bit yourself OP to make sure you handle things correctly as this staff member clearly doesnt understand the processes. Registering for ofstead can take a fair bit of time so I suspect it will be a while before you can use tax free childcare.

Many thanks for your valuable advice

That’s not how it works. It is very unlikely a uni student doing a bit of presumably part time nannying will sign up for the tax free childcare scheme as it’s a long process that costs money.

OFSTED registration is designed for professional child carers who often have relevant qualifications. There will be inspections etc, she will be expected to be able to demonstrate all sorts of policies and knowledge of child development.

once you are registered you can then sign up to the tax free childcare scheme.

The registration process may take many weeks, sometimes many months.
Depending on which country you are in, there is a different process that your nanny would need to follow.

As I am in England, I will say how it works in England.
Nanny registers with Ofsted - Ofsted has a target of completing that within 12 weeks. The time it takes varies a lot.
The nanny gets their Ofsted registration certificate, then about 2 to 3 weeks later they get a letter from Tax-Free Childcare which has a code on it that they use to register with the Tax-Free Childcare scheme. Registration on the scheme can take a few days, sometimes a week.
Then parents can find them on Tax-Free Childcare by searching for their Ofsted Registration AND postcode.
For example: If their Ofsted registration is 1234567 and their postcode is GU1 4AA, then you would search as follows:
1234567 GU14AA
Note that there is one space between the Ofsted registration and the postcode, there is no space in the postcode, and all letters are capitals.

Many thanks for enlightening me, I am in the UK too

Many thanks

Do you mean her tax code? Have you registered as an employer?

If you're paying her more than £123/week or she has another job and you're the second job you need to register and then they will inform you of her tax code.

The guide is here
www.gov.uk/employing-staff

She can only accept tax free childcare if she is Ofsted registered

www.nannytax.co.uk/ofsted-requirements-for-nannies

It’s worth noting that for a nanny, initial registration can be quite expensive as you pay for everything in one go. You not only pay the registration fee but are required to get public liability insurance, complete a course if you don’t have a relevant childcare qualification (it’s short and simple and can be done in about an hour online), and while every nanny should have first aid and a DBS, Ofsted will require that the DBS be on the update system which could mean having to do a new DBS check as you cannot have it added to the system retroactively. If she has to start from scratch it could cost about £300-400.

Both the registration fee and insurance need to be renewed annually as well, which means paying out about £170 a year.

Finally, Ofsted takes their time when it comes to getting nannies registered; takes anywhere from 4-12 weeks.

In short, I wouldn't think a uni nanny would invest in becoming Ofsted registered due to the costs.

Additionally, her uni is not responsible for sorting her tax code (I would think an employed adult knows this) she will need an NI number and you will need to register as an employer with HMRC.

Many thanks to everyone for their valuable advice & signposting