Childcare Vouchers

[pr1]

I had conflicting information from my accountant! Actually, I believe that the £243/month is the limit, and if you 'underspend' one month, you cannot subsequently 'overspend' in another month towards an annual threshold.......if you wish to fluctuate amounts to cover more expensive months, I believe that you can only do so by vouchers - i.e. purchase £243/month and accrue balance. IANAA!

this is what I was told too

[kevpuk]

My accountant told me this £243 max per month thing is actually a yearly max.

So if costs are variable its ok to go over £243 some months and below others as long as it adds up to less than £243 x12.

I had conflicting information from my accountant! Actually, I believe that the £243/month is the limit, and if you 'underspend' one month, you cannot subsequently 'overspend' in another month towards an annual threshold.......if you wish to fluctuate amounts to cover more expensive months, I believe that you can only do so by vouchers - i.e. purchase £243/month and accrue balance. IANAA!

[Andrew@Wisteria]

I'm looking for the best way to pay for my kids nursery fees, and the nursery wont allow two methods of payment(!!). Ideally I want to setup a direct debit for £243 from my LTD company account, then any extra to come from my personal account.

But as the nursery wont allow this childcare vouchers may be the best bet. Some seem to charge up to 10% commission, now being tight I want to find the cheapest childcare voucher provider. Any recommendations?

The company can pay direct, and then you don't have to have to worry about using a voucher scheme which costs. However, if say you want to store vouchers for the future (e.g. you don't spend the full £243 a month) then you have to go down the vouchers route to get the tax deduction effectively in advance of paying the childcare.

All depends on the childcare cost and your family planning!

Andrew

[psychocandy]

My accountant told me this £243 max per month thing is actually a yearly max.

So if costs are variable its ok to go over £243 some months and below others as long as it adds up to less than £243 x12.

[pr1]

Ha I just spoke to the director who has now agreed to let me pay a standing order for £243 per month after I said I know of three other nurseries (you guys) that would allow this arrangement.

good work

[JoJoGabor]

Ha I just spoke to the director who has now agreed to let me pay a standing order for £243 per month after I said I know of three other nurseries (you guys) that would allow this arrangement.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

You might want to check with your accountant on this one, but could you potentially pay the full amount each month from the company bank account - account for the maximum allowable as childcare payments and the remaining balance as payments from the director's loan account - and then set up a standing order from your bank account to the company's each month to pay off the balance allocated to the DLA?

The only snag I can think of is that the additional amount *might* still need to be treated as an expense payment rather than a "loan" and need to be reported on your P11D however your repayments would appear in the "amount made good" column so there should be no taxable BIK.

Its been a while since I read the rules so doing the above could potentially make the whole payment ineligible for tax relief so definitely confirm with your accountant first.

[jmo21]

We pay ours from 3 sources.

Kick up a fuss.

[pr1]

why won't they allow two methods of payment? surely as long as you use the same reference number from both accounts it's only 5 seconds more work for their bookkeeper?

maybe offer them an extra £5/m to let you pay from two accounts (it'll be cheaper and less hassle than messing about with childcare vouchers)

[sal]

AFAIK KiddiVouchers Childcare Vouchers is one of the best in terms of fees, fortunately for me our nursery is happy to take payments from 2 bank accounts, even though it's supper annoying especially the fact that the amount coming from my personal account is like £9.57 or something

[JoJoGabor]

I'm looking for the best way to pay for my kids nursery fees, and the nursery wont allow two methods of payment(!!). Ideally I want to setup a direct debit for £243 from my LTD company account, then any extra to come from my personal account.

But as the nursery wont allow this childcare vouchers may be the best bet. Some seem to charge up to 10% commission, now being tight I want to find the cheapest childcare voucher provider. Any recommendations?