Children, childcare and tax credits
In this section:
- Which children can you claim tax credits for?
- Help with childcare costs - do you qualify?
- Children with disabilities and tax credits - who qualifies?
- Can you claim tax credits if you're not the child's parent?
- Claiming tax credits if your child lives at more than one address
- Who can claim tax credits if your child has a child?
Help with childcare costs - do you qualify?
If you work and pay for childcare you may be able to get tax credits to help with the costs. You have to work for at least 16 hours a week to qualify. You may still qualify if you worked 16 hours or more before going on maternity, paternity, adoption or sick leave.
How much can you get?
You can get up to 80 per cent of what you pay in childcare, to a maximum of:
- £175 per week for one child
- £300 per week for two or more children
The amount you get depends on your income. The lower your income, the more tax credits you can get.
Which childcare qualifies?
You must use registered or approved childcare which may be provided by:
- a childminder, nursery, play scheme or a club that is registered or approved
- a school, out of school hours and on school premises
- a care worker or nurse from an agency
- an approved foster carer
How to find out if your childcare provider is registered or approved
You must check your childcare provider is registered or approved by one of the following:
- Ofsted in England
- the Care Standards Inspectorate for Wales
- the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care
- a Health and Social Services Board or Trust in Northern Ireland
You should ask to see their registration certificate.
There is more information about what we mean by approved and registered childcare in the leaflet Help with the costs of childcare.
Download the leaflet 'Help with the costs of childcare' (PDF 651K)
If your child is looked after by a relative
You can't usually claim tax credits for childcare provided by relatives even if they're registered or approved. A relative could be your child's:
- parent
- grandparent
- aunt or uncle
- brother or sister
- step-parent
The exception to this rule is when your child is cared for by a relative who is either:
- a registered or approved childminder caring for your child outside of the child's own home
- a childcare provider, approved under a Home Child Care Providers Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, caring for your child outside of the child's own home and they also care for at least one other child who is not related to them
Childcare vouchers
You can't claim help for childcare costs that:
- you pay with vouchers your employer gives you towards the cost of your childcare
- your employer pays
- your local education authority pays as funded pre-school sessions
If your employer offers you childcare vouchers and you want to know if you'd be better off having the vouchers or claiming for help with childcare costs through tax credits, you can use our calculator. The results won't always be exact, but they should give you a rough idea of whether you'd be better off with or without the vouchers.
Childcare vouchers versus tax credits calculator
Can you claim if you don't work 16 hours a week?
If you're a lone parent
If you're a single parent you must work 16 hours or more a week to claim help with childcare costs.
If you're part of a couple
Generally you and your partner must both work 16 hours or more a week to claim help. Only one of you has to work 16 hours or more if one of you is:
- ill or disabled and claiming disability benefits
- in hospital
- in prison - serving a custodial sentence or remanded in custody awaiting trial or sentence
If you're on maternity, paternity or adoption leave
You can claim help with childcare costs if you're on maternity or adoption leave for 39 weeks or less and you were working 16 hours or more before going on leave.
If you don't return to work after 39 weeks you won't qualify any more. It's important you let us know if don't go back to work after 39 weeks.
You can also claim help with childcare costs for the two weeks you
are on paternity leave.
How maternity, paternity and adoption leave
affects your tax credits
If you're off sick
You can claim help with childcare costs if you're off sick for 28 weeks or less. But you must have been working for at least 16 hours a week before you went off.
If you don't return to work after 28 weeks you won't qualify any more. It's important you let us know if you don't go back to work after 28 weeks.
How to claim help with childcare costs
You can only claim help with childcare costs if you've already arranged your childcare. You can't claim in advance.
If you're making a new claim
If you're making a new claim for help with childcare costs you need to fill in page 4 of the tax credits claim form.
If you're already receiving tax credits
Your circumstances may change and allow you to claim for help with childcare costs. For example you may:
- return to work and start paying for childcare
- change your childcare provider to one that's approved or registered
Call us and let us know if this happens.
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).
