Tax Free Childcare

[JJDJJ]

Help please,

I have two kids aged 4 & 2, both are eligible for taxfree childcare, I have maxed the £500 allowance for the younger one but the older one is in school full time (reception) so doesn't use his. Can I use his allowance to pay for the younger one?

Thanks

It’s all so confusing Isent it - I wouldn’t think you could as it’s an allowance per child. Is your 4yo in any paid childcare at all now? As I’m sure you know You only get 20% of what you yourself pay in - you can always play dumb this period and say you weren’t aware but You have to update every 3 months so they can ensure you still qualify - I’d be worried continuing to use both allowances for 1 child although I really don’t know how they check up on how you spend it 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks very much WhatsErFace2020,

4yrs old son is now in school full time - reception, we pay for breakfast club and after school directly to the school. Although we've already set up a taxfree child care account for him, we don't use it

2yrs old is in full time private nursery which cost about £1000/month. We have now exhausted his £500 for the quarter and I just wanted to know if I could pay into the 4yrs old account to get the government top up and use to pay the 2yrs old's nursery fees.

Once again, thanks very much for your input

@JJDJJ

Thanks very much WhatsErFace2020,

4yrs old son is now in school full time - reception, we pay for breakfast club and after school directly to the school. Although we've already set up a taxfree child care account for him, we don't use it

2yrs old is in full time private nursery which cost about £1000/month. We have now exhausted his £500 for the quarter and I just wanted to know if I could pay into the 4yrs old account to get the government top up and use to pay the 2yrs old's nursery fees.

Once again, thanks very much for your input

No is the straightforward answer

It's an allowance per child, so no, it would be fraudulent to use your older child's allowance to pay for their sibling's childcare. How would that be fair to parents of only one child if it was allowed?

You can’t unfortunately, we are in the same position but in the year we budget for the allowance running out.

Thanks everyone