15 free childcare hours - redundancy payment

[Toddlertroubles00]

I received a call from HMRC to say that my DP redundancy payment has meant we now exceed the 100k limit & wont be able to qualify again until September. As they look at the last 3 months income, although i’m confused as the redundancy was paid in August 2024.

Other friends have informed me that one off payments such as bonuses are not included in the 100k calculation.

Im just wondering if i should call them back and check the above is correct. Does anyone have any knowledge of this?

How much was the redundancy payment?

Typically they do, though, both bonuses and redundancy payments. Depending on the age of the child, you could still get the 15 hours free.

How much over the limit are you?

You have a week to fix this - pension contributions, charity donations etc.

Did the mean for tax free childcare? 15 hours for 3 and 4 year olds are not means tested.

I believe the payment was his 3 month notice period, so 3 months pay. My son is 2 and we were getting 15 hours free. It seems odd that loosing your job and being paid for your notice has meant you then loose out on the childcare!

@Toddlertroubles00 what is his total pay for the year though - April 2024 - March 2025?

You can probably get yourself back under the limit with immediate action on making a contribution to a SIPP.

the HMRC site says he earned £86k last tax year until 5th april 2025 and new tax year he is earning £100,730 - which we believe will be accepted with pension contributions as its only over by £730.

HMRC said that was ok, apart from the redundancy payment last year thats the problem. I don't think we can do anything about that. I was just wondering if it was correct that redundancies are counted towards your 100k limit.

Yes redundancies are counted as its total income they look at I believe. We have had the same situation last tax year.

OP didn't say her child was receiving 3/4 year old funding.

Yes, I believe redundancies are counted. We had a similar situation. We think it will be just under £100k this year but the last time I reconfirmed I had to ring HRMC to get it approved as they thought he might go slightly over.

What is the problem in your case if he only earnt £86k? Does that include the redundancy? The amount shown online should already include the redundancy shouldn’t it?

@wishIwasonholiday10 the 86k only included his salary online

I'm still confused as we started receiving funding in jan 2025 and the redundancy was paid in august 2024. So why do we need to wait until September to qualify again?

Did you ever get this sorted? I am likely to be in a similar position.