30 Free Hours and Tax Free Childcare from September 2017

A bit of good news for all parents – Smile Day Nursery is happy to announce that we are taking part in the new government scheme to provide 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 years olds from September this year.

30 hours free childcare

That’s right, working parents of young children can now apply for 30 hours of free childcare thanks to a new scheme going live in September 2017.

At the moment, all parents receive a contribution to the cost of nursery or child minder places equivalent to 15 free hours of care a week if their child is 3 years old.

But this is set to double to 30 free hours for working parents of children aged 3 or 4 from September 2017.

Parents who work more than 16 hours a week will be eligible for the free hours as long as they earn less than £100,000.

The scheme will give parents 1,140 hours in total to use flexibly.

Parents can also apply now if their child will be 3 on or before August 31 this year, with the scheme worth around £5,000 per child.

Tax-free childcare

Another scheme has also been launched, meaning working parents can also take advantage of tax-free childcare.

This is open for working families and self-employed individuals in the UK with children under 12 years of age or under 17 if disabled. The scheme means that for every £8 you pay in childcare, the government will add an extra £2, up to £2,000 per child or £4,000 for a disabled child. Parents of children who are still under 4 on August 31st, as well as parents of disabled children are welcome to apply now.

A few T&Cs

  • You and your partner must earn on average £120 a week. Those in maternity, paternity, or adoption leave, as well as those who are unable to work due to a disability or have caring responsibilities are still eligible.
  • If you or your partner expect to earn £100,000 or more, you cannot get Tax-Free childcare.
  • Tax-free childcare cannot be used at the same time as childcare vouchers, Universal Credit, or tax credits.
  • You can use this with the 15 hours and 30 hours schemes.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this in more detail please get in touch with us either by phone or email.
You can also find out more here: www.childcarechoices.gov.uk