In this section:

Which state benefits to report when making a tax credits claim
Working out income from employment for your tax credits claim
Working out benefits from your employer for your tax credits claim
Working out income from self-employment for your tax credits claim
Working out other income for your tax credits claim
Working out usual working hours for your tax credits claim
Working out childcare costs for your tax credits claim

You are here:
Home >
Tax credits >
Claiming tax credits >
Help with the tax credits claim form >
Working out childcare costs for your tax credits claim

Working out childcare costs for your tax credits claim

You can claim tax credits to help with the cost of registered or approved childcare that you pay for. The amount you'll get is based on your average weekly childcare costs.

What not to include in your claim

You can't claim for childcare that's covered by:

payments from your employer - either in money or vouchers
any other childcare vouchers you get
payments made by your local authority

How to work out your average childcare costs

When you first claim you'll need to work out how much you spend every week on childcare, as the extra payments you'll get if you qualify are based on your average weekly childcare costs. If you pay the same amount each week, that's the figure to use. If you pay different amounts, for example you may pay more during the school holidays, you need to work out an average amount.

If you pay weekly

If you pay a fixed weekly amount, add up how much you paid in the last four complete weeks and divide by four. If you pay childcare for more than one child, add together the weekly costs you paid in the last four complete weeks for each child and divide the total by four. This gives you the average weekly cost.

If you pay different weekly amounts, add up how much you paid out in the past year and divide it by 52. If you haven't been using childcare for a full year, make your best guess for what you will pay over the next year and divide that by 52. This gives you the average weekly figure to use.

If you pay monthly

If you pay the same amount each month, multiply the monthly cost by 12 and divide it by 52. This gives you the average weekly figure to use.

If you don't pay the same amount each month, work out how much you've paid in the past year. If you've not been using childcare for a full year, make your best guess for how much you think you'll spend in the next 12 months.

If you're about to start paying for childcare

If you have reached agreement with a registered or approved provider to care for your child but haven't paid anything to them yet ask how much they are going to charge for the next year and divide that amount by 52 to get a weekly average.

If you don't think you'll pay for a full year of childcare

If you think you'll need childcare for less than a year - maybe because your child is starting school soon - work out the weekly average for the time you will need it. To do this, add up how much you're likely to pay out until the childcare stops, and divide that by the number of weeks you'll be paying.

If your childcare costs change

It's important to tell us straight away about any changes to the amount you pay for childcare, or if it turns out that the amount you guessed you would pay for your childcare was higher or lower than it actually is.

You must to tell us within one month of the change happening if you:

stop paying for childcare
pay fixed weekly childcare costs, and your costs have gone down so that for four weeks in a row, your new actual weekly costs are at least £10 lower than your old average weekly costs
pay different amounts of childcare costs each week or month, for example you pay more in the school holidays than you do during term time, and your new average weekly childcare costs have gone down by at least £10 per week

If you do not tell us these changes, you might get paid too much money, which you may have to pay back and you could have to pay a penalty.

You should also tell us if your average weekly childcare costs go up because you may be able to get more money. Tell us as soon as possible, because we can only backdate any increase in money for up to three months.

Find out what to do if your childcare arrangements change

Contact us

You can contact our Tax Credit Helpline on Tel 0845 300 3900 or textphone 0845 300 3909 (open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, seven days a week except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day).