30 hours free childcare self employed gross income or profit?

[Vixmag]

Hi. I’m self employed and I want to apply for the 30 hrs free childcare next year from sept 24 for my son. I sell handmade items on Etsy and my gross income for this tax year (April 23-April 24) will be over the £8668 specified on the gov website. Some weeks I earn less and then Xmas and Mother’s Day/fathers day I earn a lot so it averages out. So on a given week I don’t earn the £166 but other weeks I will earn a lot more than this. So I know I can use the year earnings instead. But is the £8668 the gross income (the amount I charge customers on Etsy) or is it profit? E.g. I charge £12 for a picture. Etsy take commission and I pay post and packaging and other materials. So maybe of the £12 I get £8 of that. On my tax return I put down the gross (£12) and then the £4 is expenses. After expenses is taken off my gross income and I’m left with the profit I am then taken under the £8668. So does that mean I don’t qualify? I can’t find the answer on the gov website. It just says income. Thanks.

For the 100k earnings cap it's based on adjusted net income, I'd have thought the minimum earnings cap would be the same. I can't see anything specific so I'll keep searching for the legislation.

It is the expected net profit that Tax Free Childcare / 30 Hours Childcare Funding will be looking at. If you have been trading less than 12 months, then you may not need to meet the minimum income level.

If your only income is from the self employment than you can ask for the average income to be calculated over a whole year, rather than in 3 month blocks.

I would apply and see what happens. As part of the application process you provide your UTR so they will be able to look at any self employment tax returns you have completed.