Tax free childcare.. help!

[mumboyof1]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but would appreciate some help.

DS is currently in nursery until Aug 2026 before he starts school in September 26. We’re looking to buy a new house but have decided to wait until he starts school as what we can borrow from the bank significantly decreases because of the nursery fees. DH had an idea of topping up the tax free childcare account enough for 3 months fees and starting the buying process during the summer 26 so our account outgoings won’t show the fee coming out each month.

The question is, if we overpay the account with 3 months fees, will we still receive the tax free top up during that period?

Depending how much your fees are, probably not. You get a maximum of £500 per quarter top up from the Government and that goes in when you pay the funds into the account. We always maxed out the £500 so any excess going into the account wouldn’t have been topped up.

You can get a maximum top up of £500 per quarter, but you can put in as much money as you, you just won’t get any more top up than £500.

I think yes - if you mean will you get the top up next quarter if you put in next quarter's money early? As far as I remember (not using it at the moment) the top up gets automatically added when the new quarter starts, if there are funds sitting in there for which you haven't already received a top up. E.g. if you put in £2000 now, you'll get £500 top up, and if you put in £4000 now, you'll still get £500 top up, but then next quarter you'll get the next £500 top up. Perhaps someone who has done this more recently will confirm.

Yep this is how it works.

If you put in £4,000 you’d get £500 top up (for £2,000 of the £4,000) and then when the next period started, you’d get the £500 top up for the second £2,000

I have a friend who’s mum paid the nursery fees for a few months from her bank account for this reason, and they paid her in full once house was sorted.

Amazing thank you all for confirming we can do this!