Childcare vouchers

[kapszone]

Hi Guys, I just started contracting from last 5 months and till now I wasn't aware of childcare voucher benefit. I have couple of questions, please advice.

1) Can I buy vouchers for last 5 months or should I start from tomorrow as I can still claim it for the month of January.
2) I was reading about kiddivouchers who charge the lowest fees, should I just enrol with the scheme and pay from my business account ?
Please suggest.

[JRCT]

You don't have to register for vouchers, you can just pay the childminder direct, as long as they are registered. You need to have an agreement in place with them.

I pay £243 direct from my business account, my wife gets vouchers through her work and we just pay the balance ourselves.

I don't think you can back date vouchers, but if you pay direct there may be a way to 'account' for this. Your accountant should be able to advise.

[northernladuk]

Two great options for you here..

One is to try a search as childcare vouchers comes up a lot. Here is a search I did earlier...

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ch...atE5LSaIijgbgD

The other is to ask your accountant

[Eirikur]

You don't have to register for vouchers, you can just pay the childminder direct, as long as they are registered. You need to have an agreement in place with them.

I pay £243 direct from my business account, my wife gets vouchers through her work and we just pay the balance ourselves.

I don't think you can back date vouchers, but if you pay direct there may be a way to 'account' for this. Your accountant should be able to advise.

^^ exactly what I did

I'm now paying like this for some of the extra curricular activities at my daughter's public school (accountant approved) unfortunately I couldn't pay part of the annual fee using childcare vouchers

[Taita]

^^ exactly what I did

I'm now paying like this for some of the extra curricular activities at my daughter's public school (accountant approved) unfortunately I couldn't pay part of the annual fee using childcare vouchers

I have found the Bursars at public schools much better at this sort of advice than the Government agencies or professionals like solicitors and accountants who just want to charge extra for things you can find using Bing. Off course, the only voucher a Bursar wants is a direct debit but they understand all the other things such as Lidl loyalty rewards so don't hesitate to ask. It can be a big worry, I know, so good luck.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I also paid for our childcare direct though I guess it's worth pointing out that one advantage of vouchers is that they can be saved up and used later.