Universal Credit vs Tax Free Childcare

[Megancch13]

I return to work from maternity leave on the 7th September; my daughter will be with family three days a week and with a childminder on two, who we will pay £80 per week. She is Ofsted registered and has asked us to pay directly into her bank account.

• Can I claim either if I am paying her in this way?
• If I can, according to online calculators I would be eligible for almost £70 per month from Tax Free Childcare but if I went on Universal Credit, I’d be entitled to almost the same amount per week. Why is the figure so much higher for UC?

I’ve never claimed any type of benefit before, it’s all so confusing!

Tax credits and universal credit are dependant on earnings

If you go on www.entitledto.co.uk you can put wages in etc it will tell you what if anything you can claim - do this first

Also worth claiming for the tax free childcare you need a government gateway account for that as you'll get tax credits if eligible but can still save 20% with tax-free childcare so the £80 a week will be £64 a week

www.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare

Hope that helps

Hi thanks. I’ve already looked at the online calculators but I’m confused as to why we’d be entitled to more or less the same sum per week on UC as we would per month on TFC xx

For Tax after Childcare, the childminder needs to be set up to receive it. You pay 80% in to your TFC account, it gets topped up and then you transfer it to your childminder. The earnings threshold is £100k per year per parent. The amount TFC is topped up by doesn’t decrease if you want up to that amount.

In comparison, with UC your earnings will be used to calculate entitlement so it decreases from after the first £292 or £512 (depending on your housing situation).