Please explain childcare vouchers!

[MrsCK]

As I am completely confused! my workplace offer them but without sounding dumb...what are they? How do I claim them? when can I claim them? pfb is due next week can I claim as soon as he is born and save them up? are they actual vouchers and if so are there different types for different nurseries?

Thanks! A very confused mum to be

Childcare vouchers are a way of saving tax. You siphon off some of your salary before you pay tax on it specifically to pay for childcare, so you save c£70pm if you're a basic rate tax payer.

The actual way they work depends on who your company uses to run the scheme (external company) but these days is usually an electronic account like a really basic bank account. Money in direct from salary, you set up payment to your nursery/childminder.

Most companies won't allow you to start while you're on mat leave, but your dp can start if they have it at their work.

Hi MrsCK I'll have a go at answering your questions.... Depending on where you work your best bet is to speak to Finance/HR. They will tell you the name of their childcare voucher supplier ( there are a few different companies out there: Edenred, Computershare...) and set you up on the scheme.
You need to decide when you want the payments to start. Make sure it's a good month or so in advance of when you need to start paying for childcare- mine don't come with my pay exactly; they are generated a week or so later so I use last month's voucher to pay my minder.
Each month, a max of £243 will come out of your gross (depending on your salary; the more you earn the less you can claim I think) and you will get a separate alert from your voucher company when the voucher is available to use against childcare costs.
When you select your daycare, just check with them that they also hold an account with the same voucher provider as your work. I think it's easy for them to set up if not. When you do the online transfer to pay your daycare bill you'll need to do part of it through your voucher company's website and the remainder (assuming your £243 won't cover a month's childcare) through your own personal means.
It seems complicated but you'll get there!
Good luck on your mat leave!

Fab thank you so much!

You need to join before I think it's August or you will have to join the new scheme. If you join the current scheme you can stay in it.

Also check if you can claim childcare through tax credits instead. If you can tax credits will be worth more than childcare vouchers.

Depending on how much child care you need it may not be worth stock piling them whilst on mat leave.
My d's did one day a week and that cost under the limit for what I could claim each month, if you (assumption alert) dh also has a scheme you may not pay over £400 a month in fees.

K

We are stockpiling our vouchers even though we have to pay less than the max amount of vouchers. This is simply because we are planning to have another child, so it will definitely be over that amount once we have 2 lots of childcare to pay. Just something to have in mind