Help paying for childcare - Tax Free Childcare
Tax-Free Childcare is a government scheme to support working parents with childcare costs. If eligible, you set up an online childcare account which you can use to pay your childcare provider directly.
For every £8 you pay in, the government will pay in an extra £2. You can get up to £2,000 per child per year, or £4,000 for disabled children. You can use Tax-Free Childcare to pay for:
- Registered childminders, nurseries and nannies
- Registered after-school clubs and play schemes
- Home care workers working for a registered home care agency
Watch the DfE video on how to apply for 30 hours childcare and Tax-Free Childcare
Further information
Top things Parents need to know
Apply for Tax-Free Childcare
To access this service for the first time you'll need:
- a Government Gateway account - if you don't already have one, you can set one up by using this service
- your National Insurance number
- access to a mobile phone or landline
- details of one or more of the following - your UK Passport, tax credits, P60 or a recent payslip
It will take about 5 minutes to set up but if you already have a Government Gateway account, you can sign in using your existing login details.
Your childcare provider
Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from Tax-Free Childcare.
Check with your provider to see if they’re signed up. A childcare provider can sign up to tax free childcare.
