Help with childcare costs: how to stop missing out if you can claim tax-free allowance

HMRC is urging nursing staff who pay for childcare to claim support many of them will be entitled to – find out how

Nursing staff with young children are being urged to check if they are eligible to claim an annual allowance worth between £2,000 and £4,000 to help with childcare costs.

The tax-free childcare allowance is for working parents or carers of children aged up to 11, or 17 if their child has a disability.

How the tax allowance works

For every £8 parents or carers deposit in the scheme for each child, £2 will be added by the government to the value of £500 every three months, or £1,000 for children with disabilities. That adds up to £2,000, or £4,000 for a child with a disability, to help meet childcare costs.

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Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is making a direct appeal to nursing staff to sign up for the allowance – it seems likely many will be part of the almost 800,000 UK households who are missing out. According the 2020 NHS Staff Survey in England, 39% of respondents said they cared for children aged 17 or under.

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An HMRC spokesperson said: ‘Tax-free childcare is a great offer for working parents, and we continue to encourage eligible nurses to sign-up for it.’

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