Don’t miss out, sign up to Tax-Free Childcare!

Eligible working parents with children under 12 can get up to £2000 and disabled children under 17 can get up to £4000, per child, per year, towards their childcare costs with Tax-Free Childcare. 

Parents entering the scheme open an online childcare account and for every £8 parents pay into the account, the government will pay an additional £2. Parents use the childcare account to pay childcare providers directly, just like an online bank account. Each payment is accompanied by a reference number for each child so childcare providers can identify their payments. 

If you are an Ofsted registered childcare provider, a childminder registered with a childminder agency or a school offering childcare provision you can sign up to a childcare provider account and receive payments from parents who use Tax-Free Childcare. 

The scheme helps parents stay in work or work more hours by reducing childcare costs, which could provide additional income for your business by increasing the need for extra hours of childcare. 

How to apply 

The main contact for the registered childcare provision is required to complete the sign-up process. To support with the management of the childcare provider account, the main contact can provide a delegate access too. 

You will need your 11-digit user ID from the invitation letter (if you did not have one or have lost it, contact the helpline), bank account details and business postcode. It only takes around 10 minutes to sign up here. 

After you sign up, you will be provided with a childcare provider account which you can sign in to at any time to keep your details up to date. After signing up to Tax-Free Childcare, you can still accept payment from parents using childcare vouchers and other payment methods. 

Over time, Tax-Free Childcare will replace childcare vouchers. By signing up now, you will be able to accept payments from parents as soon as they ask to pay using Tax-Free Childcare. View guidance for providers on signing up to Tax-Free Childcare for more information. 

To support childcare providers to promote Tax-Free Childcare, Childcare Choices have created social media content and short videos for use.