Tax Free Childcare

[ibuymeownflowers]

Hello, I'm a bit stuck with this and hoping someone clever can help.

1. How much do I need to put in every qualifying period (3 months) to get the full £500 top up?
2. Can I roll it over to the next month if I don't use it all in one 3 month period?

I'm wondering if i can top up my account this period and next period in preparation for an anticipated increase in my childcare costs in a few periods time if that makes sense.

£2000 a quarter to get the maximum £500 top up (£8000 a year) and no you can't roll it over to the next quarter

You can't roll unclaimed allowance over but the money can sit in your account until you want to use it.

Depends what you mean by rollover.

The allowance amount doesn't roll over, but whatever you've put in there and had topped up is yours to use whenever you need to.

We have money (plus top up) in DS's account from last year that we're still working through.

Thank you!

This might help clarify what I was thinking when I said roll over.

So if I put £2000 In this quarter and get the £500 top up.

But I only use £1000 of it and £250 of the top up.

Do I then have £1000 and £250 of the top up "banked" so I can then add another £2000 the next quarter bringing total to £3000 in account with £750 top up?

So I think you're saying how I think it works.

So the allowance doesn't roll over but if I've used that full allowance it gets banked into the the amount - they don't remove it?

Yea if you pay enough in you get the top up and it's not taken away if you don't use it

It's only taken away if you withdraw money from the account (ie request a refund)

Thank you so so much! This is most excellent news

I know this is a old thread. Did this work or did the top up get taken away?

I'm hoping to have a second baby and won't earn over the thresh hold when on maternity. So was hoping the 20% will stay in my account if I pay extra in now.