Paying for Childcare

1. How does my nationality affect my eligibility for tax credits?
2. What counts as paid employment?
3. What counts towards the total hours?
4. Who counts as a partner?
5. My partner isn't in work. Are we still eligible?
6. What are the age limits for children covered by Working Tax Credit?
7. What is registered childcare?
8. What is employer-supported childcare?
9. Do I have to tell the Tax Credit Office about changes in my circumstances?
10. What do I do if I’ve been overpaid tax credits?
11. Is Working Tax Credit only for registered or approved childcare?

1. How does my nationality affect my eligibility for tax credits?

To claim Working Tax Credit you need to usually live in the UK and be a UK national (meaning either you or your parents were born in the UK). BUT you may also qualify under other circumstances.

You may also be able to claim if you are a:

• British citizen or you hold a British passport;
• crown servant posted overseas ;
• citizen of another country in the European Economic Area (EEA) and you work in the UK;
• citizen of a country in the European Economic Area (including the UK) living abroad and you receive a UK state pension or contributions-based Jobseeker's Allowance; or
• Swiss national (although not part of the EEA, Swiss nationals have the same rights as EEA nationals within the United Kingdom).

Some family members of EEA citizens may also qualify. It is always worth checking with the Revenue whether you are able to apply for tax credits.

For further information about tax credits and immigration, see the Immigration/residency information in the tax credits’ section of the Revenue’s website: www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits.

Countries included in the European Economic Area (EEA) are:

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany

Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta

Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom

**Crown servants are people who are employed by the Government and carry out duties of a public nature and whose salaries are paid from public funds (of the UK or Northern Ireland). For example, civil servants, diplomats and people employed by HM Forces are crown servants.

If you are unsure whether you are a crown servant, you can contact the Revenue for clarification.

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2. What counts as paid employment?

You will need to have a job that you are paid for and work for 16 or more hours per week. You are also considered as being in paid employment for tax credit purposes, if you are self-employed or you a director of a limited company.

If you are on maternity or sick leave from your normal paid work, you are still considered as being in paid employment. This also applies if you are due to start work in the next seven days.

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3. What counts towards the total hours?

The 16 hours can be made up of more than one paid job, as long as they add up to 16 hours or more they will be counted in a claim for Working Tax Credit.

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4. Who counts as a partner?

Your partner means someone who you live with as a couple and who you:

• are married to or are living with as if you are married to them; or
• you have a civil partnership* with or are living with as if you are in a civil partnership.

If you are living with a partner, you will need to make a claim for tax credits together as a couple. You cannot make individual claims. Any application will be assessed on your joint situation.

*Civil partnership is the legal recognition of a same-sex relationship, which gives lesbian and gay couples the same legal benefits as heterosexual married couples.

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5. My partner isn't in work. Are we still eligible?

If you are part of a couple, both you and your partner need to be in paid employment of 16 hours or more per week. However, you will also be eligible if one of you works 16 hours or more per week and the other does not work, but is an in-patient in hospital, in prison or incapacitated for childcare purposes. You are treated as incapacitated if you receive:

• Disability Living Allowance;
• Attendance Allowance;
• Severe Disablement Allowance;
• Incapacity Benefit at the short-term higher rate or long-term rate;
• as a couple you receive Industrial Injuries Benefit with Constant Attendance Allowance;
• War Disablement Pension with Constant Attendance Allowance or Mobility Supplement; or
• you or your partner receive Council Tax Benefit or Housing Benefit with a Disability premium or Higher Pensioner Premium; or
• you have been provided with a vehicle under the Invalid Vehicle Scheme.

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6. What are the age limits for children covered by Working Tax Credit?

To claim the childcare element of Working Tax Credit, you must have the main responsibility for caring for a child or children. You can claim up to the first Saturday in September following your child’s 15th birthday or 16th birthday if they are registered blind (or have been taken off the blind register within the last 28 weeks) or receive Disability Living Allowance.

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7. What is registered childcare?

These are childcare services that are registered with Ofsted in England and inspected once every three years. To be registered, childcare needs to meet and maintain certain standards of quality and provide consistent care for children.

If you are unsure whether the childcare that you use is registered, you can check this by asking to see your childcare provider’s registration certificate; each registered provider has one. Alternatively, you can contact Oftsed who hold details of all registered childcare. Ofsted can be contacted on 0845 640 4045. Details are also available on their website www.ofsted.gov.uk.

A person 'approved' under the Childcare Approval Scheme to provide childcare in the child's home or in other domestic premises also qualifies as eligible childcare up until the expiry of their current approval. (The Childcare Approval Scheme is in the process of being phased out and replaced by voluntary registration with Ofsted.) After this time they would need to be registered on the voluntary part of the Ofsted Childcare Register. Further information about this is available on Ofsted’s website www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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8. What is employer-supported childcare?

This is support for your childcare costs that is offered by your employer (if they have opted to run a scheme in your workplace). Employer-supported childcare refers to childcare vouchers, a workplace nursery, or directly-contracted childcare. However, although it may be possible for you to claim both the childcare element of Working Tax Credit and employer-supported childcare at the same time, you will generally not be able to benefit from both systems to help with your childcare costs, as any amounts will be included in any calculations and will reduce any amount you are eligible to receive. Find out more about employer-supported childcare

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9. Do I have to tell the Tax Credit Office about changes in my circumstances?

Changes in your circumstances could affect the amount of tax credits you receive. You will need to contact the Tax Credit Helpline to tell them about certain changes in your situation and in order for you to avoid being overpaid (or underpaid). The changes that you need to tell them about are:

Children

Tell the Tax Credit Helpline if:

• you have another child;
• your childcare costs go up;
• your childcare costs go down for more than four weeks;
• your childcare is no longer registered;
• your child leaves home;
• your child is aged over 16 and they leave full-time education or go to university;
• your child is employed and they start training that is provided by their employer; or
• your child continues full-time education after 1 September following their 16th birthday.

Household, work and income

Tell the Tax Credit Helpline if:

• there are any changes with your partner, family or household – for example your partner moves in or out;
• your working hours go down to less than 30 per week;
• your working hours go down from 16–30 hours per week to below 16 hours per week;
• you stop working;
• you have been on strike for more than 10 days; or
• your income changes, for example you get a pay rise, do regular overtime; reduce your hours or your benefits change.

Other changes

You should also tell the Tax Credit Helpline if:

• any of your family are affected by disability or the disability no longer affects them;
• you change your bank account;
• you change your address;
• you permanently leave the country;
• you leave the country for eight weeks or more; or
• you lose the right to reside in the UK.

Some of these changes will need to be reported within one month, otherwise you may face a penalty or be overpaid and will face having to pay the money back, reducing your tax credit award. It is always advisable to inform the Tax Credit Office of changes to your circumstances to ensure that you are not overpaid (or underpaid).You can contact the Tax Credit Helpline on 0845 300 3900 (textphone 0845 300 3909). They are open 7 days a week, between 8.00am and 8.00pm.

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10. What do I do if I’ve been overpaid tax credits?

In addition to being overpaid as a result of a change in circumstance that you have not alerted the Tax Credit Office to, there may also be situations where there has been an error made in your award which was beyond your control. In such a situation you want to dispute the decision that has been made to reclaim any overpayment through your tax credit award. For information about tax credit overpayments, see the Revenue’s leaflet COP26- ‘What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?’. There is also useful information about appealing on the Directgov website www.direct.gov.uk.

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11. Is Working Tax Credit only for registered or approved childcare?

We recommend that you use registered or approved childcare whenever possible. By using registered or approved childcare you will know that the service has undergone certain checks and that staff looking after your children have met Government requirements for training and qualifications. You will only be able to receive any Government help with your childcare costs if your childcare is registered or approved.