Childcare vouchers question please

[jaabaar]

Hi,

Can you husband claim childcare vouchers for baby which is not yet in childcare?

e.g. I am on maternity leave and would need a childminder in Jan 2010. Can you claim childvouchers from now or only from the day you start using childcare?

Thanks...

I guess it depends on your employers scheme.

The ones I've seen mean you get paid partially in vouchers and pay less tax because of it.

I've never been asked to prove I use them.

My employer said that since it is a tax relieve it not allowed to claim before you actually use childcare.

Is that correct?

Not sure that's correct - with a lot of voucher scheme the parent can build up a "bank" of voucher value and redeem the vouchers whenever they want with a qualifying childcarer who is registered with the voucher company.

I can't see why your DH should not be able to start claiming vouchers and redeem them when you start using childcare.

Just one point - have you actually had your baby yet? Until the baby is born your DH is not actually a parent so would not qualify for the tax relief.

Exactly as Cancarryon said - your DH can start to claim the vouchers whilst you are on maternity leave and bank them (but bear in mind you cannot get the money refunded if you don't use them) although I know the scheme we use at work (Fideliti), you actually have to state which childcare provider(s) you use as they need to be registered so if you haven't actually booked a childminder yet, I don't think you would be able to register with the voucher company. Also, yes, the baby does need to have been born before you can claim the vouchers.

I would suggest your DH gets the childcare voucher company details and gives them a ring to check whether you need to state your childcare provider.

As long as you are a parent you can get tax relief on your childcare vouchers. It's not conditional on you spending them immediately or telling anyone which provider you use. No one other than a registered provider would accept them anyway so it's not as if you could spend it on beer...

I cant find any link from government stating it can be claimed any time (after birth). Does anyone have any link? Which I could show to work?

thanks..

This is for employers, look at the table of 'Conditions' on page 7, says vouchers don't have to be used immediately.

What they said our scheme is care-4-u and I have to specify carer but only when I go to pay for the care!

On our scheme vouchers are only valid one year so check how long they are valid for!