Thousands of families can receive help with Easter childcare costs

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is reminding working parents in the UK to not miss out on the opportunity to get up to £2,000 a year to pay for regulated childcare, including holiday clubs and other out-of-school activities, during the Easter holidays.

Tax-Free Childcare provides thousands of eligible working families with up to £500 every three months (or £1,000 if their child is disabled) towards the cost of holiday clubs, before and after-school clubs, childminders and nurseries, and other approved childcare schemes.

For every £8 deposited into a Tax-Free Childcare online account, families will receive an additional £2 in government top-up, and it is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability.

Working parents could get up to £2,000 a year to pay for regulated childcare, including holiday clubs and out-of-school activities in the Easter holidays.

About 328,000 working families used Tax-Free Childcare across the UK in December 2021, receiving a share of £34 million in government top-up payments towards their childcare costs.

This scheme can help working families including the self-employed and is one of many ways the government is supporting households to reduce their costs and keep more of what they earn to help pay for other bills.

By depositing money into their accounts, families can benefit from the 20% top-up and use the money to pay for childcare costs when they need it. Accounts can be opened at any time of the year and can be used straight away.

For example, if parents and carers have school-aged children and use holiday clubs during school holidays, they could deposit money into their accounts throughout the year. This means they could spread the cost of childcare while also benefitting from the 20% government top-up. Any unused money that is deposited can be simply withdrawn at any time.

Tax-Free Childcare is also available for pre-school aged children attending nurseries, childminders, or other childcare providers. Families with younger children will often have higher childcare costs than families with older children, so the tax-free savings can really make a difference.