CHILDCARE VOUCHERS

[herethereandeverywhere]

I have couple of questions, could anyone help. I've had a rummage around the internet but can't answer these two. Will speak to my employer but HR not easy to get hold of!

The qu:

Can I start to claim them whilst I'm on mat. leave?

I know I can get £243 per month (as can DH) but is there a limit to the amount I spend each month (ie: can I save them up and just spend vouchers for the first couple of months?)

I don't know the answers for sure but I don't see any reason why you can't claim them while on mat leave as long as you're still being paid at least £243 from your employer - I would have thought that your HR Dept would be able to advise if you have such a thing. I also don't see any reason why you can't save them up and then spend them. I heard that there can be a problem getting unspent money back so be sure that you will use them and read the small print.

Hi

busybees told me I can claim more than I need to spend, so I can bank credit for when I need it.

hth

You can spend as many as you want at any time (not sure about Mat leave -sorry)

You are entitled to receive the vouchers whilst on maternity leave, regardless of whether you are receiving any occupational pay - if you are just receiving SMP, your company still has to provide you with the vouchers but cannot deduct the money from your SMP (so effectively they are funding them themselves). You can't start to claim them until you actually have the child either - and a lot of companies are either turning a blind eye to the law or ignorant of it so you might have a battle on your hands to actually get them to provide you with the vouchers whilst you are off.

Most childcare vouchers companies allow you to bank your vouchers but you cannot get your money back if you subsequently don't use them - so be careful with that.

That is correct - provided you are being paid at least £243 pm, you can claim them.

You don't have to spend them immediately - but you need to be confident that you will spend them on qualifying childcare (ie nursery, nanny who is registered, etc), otherwise you will not be able to access the money. As I found to my cost when I changed nannies, and it took several months to register the second one for the scheme!

Oooooh this is a bit confusing because people have said different things (some said you have to earn at least £243 pm, Ceebee74 said you don't have to earn anything).

Ceebee I noticed you are an HR advisor so I'm guessing you're right. Sorry to abuse your position, but my own HR department don't seem to know the answer to this question. If you're on maternity leave and earning SMP, can you claim the higher rate of childcare vouchers (I am a higher rate tax payer in my job) or because you're no longer earning much money, do you then reduce down to being able to claim the lower rate?

Thank you!

I thought only one person could claim them not both parents. Mine are usually valid for a 12 months.

Queen both parents can claim upto £243 each and benefit from the savings.

Lovely no worries about abusing my position I know I am definitely correct in my last post (not least because I was the first person in my organisation to benefit from the change in employment law when I was on maternity leave with DS2 ) As for your other question, I am a little confused as I wasn't aware that higher-rate tax payers could claim more than £243 per month - how much can you claim then? Could you clarify for me?

Aah thanks Ceebee. Sorry, I'm not great at explaining myself. Wonder if this makes more sense:

I was under the impression that there were 2 levels of childcare vouchers. 40% tax payers can claim £243 of vouchers per month but 22% tax payers can claim less. So £243 is the max you can claim but not everyone is entitled to this amount. My information could be wrong as you can tell that I'm no expert in this field.

My question therefore is: if I'm on maternity leave and only earning SMP (about £123 a week I think), I'm obviously not going to be a higher rate tax payer, so can I still claim the higher rate of childcare vouchers? And if I do get them, I'm getting them for free aren't I because you said that they can't deduct from your SMP.

You're probably going to come back to me and say 'bloody hell lovelymama, you really don't get this scheme do you?!' and to be honest I don't really get it. I've been using it for a year so I know it works, but it isn't that clear is it?

Thanks again for your help

I understand now - no, everyone, regardless of how much they can earn, can claim upto £243. The difference between 40% and 22% tax payers is the savings they make which may be where you are getting confused. On average, a 22% tax payer will save £70 per month and a 40% tax payer will save £100 per month.

Therefore you can still claim £243 per month whilst you are on SMP as it is irrelevant to how much tax you pay - you just won't benefit from the tax savings but then again, you aren't paying tax anyway and you are gaining £243 free childcare vouchers a month!

Am surprised your HR department don't know this

Aaaah got it, thank you.

I'm surprised the HR department don't know this as well. Do you fancy a job in the HR department of a large investment bank?! I'll put in a good word for you

Thanks but I think that might be too cut-throat for me I am used to fluffy nice public sector jobs

Apologies for hijack but whilst on the subject I have recently been advised that if planning a pregnancy and subsequent mat leave I should consider that my mat pay will be calculated at a lower rate if I am claiming the full £243 childcare vouchers each month.

Does anyone know the time period over which you salary is averaged to calculate mat pay and if it is advisable, at what stage I should cancel my salary sacrifice scheme in order to maximise potential mat pay?

Hope that makes sense.

Montifer mat pay is worked out as the average earnings between 17-25 weeks of your pregnancy so you need to stop your vouchers for that period to maximise your maternity pay (although this won't have any effect once you are on SMP only) - however, if you did stop them in order to maximise your earnings, it is unlikely that your organisation would allow you to restart them and subsequently claim the vouchers whilst on SMP as this is seen as a 'double benefit' so you would need to work out which way would be the most beneficial for you - maximise your earnings to receive slightly more maternity pay or recieve £243 vouchers per months for the entire time you are on SMP only.

Thanks Ceebee that's really helpful to know.