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Nine out of ten families with children are eligible for tax credits.
Child Tax Credit (CTC)
This is paid into the bank account of the main carer - the person mainly responsible for looking after the children. Families on incomes of up to £58,000 a year (or £66,000 a year if there is at least one child who is less than a year old) can benefit from the new CTC whether or not they are working. This money acknowledges and supports the cost of bringing up children.
Childcare element of Working Tax Credit (WTC)
To apply for the childcare element of WTC:
- lone parents must work at least 16 hours a week
- both members of a couple must work 16 hours a week or more
- or one member of a couple must work 16 hours a week or more and the other member must be incapacitated.
Parents must also use one of the following types of qualifying childcare:
- care registered by Ofsted, for example childminders, nannies, nurseries, activity clubs, playschemes or out-of-school clubs
- care provided outside of school hours, by a school on the school site
- carers approved on the Childcare Approval Scheme (CAS)
- an approved foster carer, unless the child is the foster carer's foster child
- a domiciliary worker or nurse from a registered agency providing care in the child's home.
Note that childcare for children aged eight or over that is approved by a quality assurance scheme, is no longer considered qualifying care for tax credits and should now be registered by Ofsted to qualify.
The childcare element of WTC will be paid into the bank account of the main care with the CTC.
Relatives
Care provided by a registered childminder who is related to the child, is not considered qualifying care for the purposes of tax credits if this is provided in the child's own home. Registered childminders should inform Ofsted of changes in their childminding status, for example if they no longer look after non-related children.
If the childcare provider is approved under the CAS and provides care to a related child outside of the child’s own home, for example in other domestic premises, it is not qualifying childcare unless the childcare provider is also looking after non-related children.
Contacts and resources
You can pick up a CTC form from your nearest HM Revenue & Customs enquiry cor Jobcentre Plus.
Helplines
The Tax Credit helpline provides information for LAs and Children’s Information Services (CIS), and helps parents complete their claim form or check the progress of their claim.
8.00am to 8.00pm every day (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Easter Sunday) in England, Scotland and Wales; 0845 300 3900
For people with hearing or speech difficulties in England, Scotland and Wales call 0845 300 3909
Websites
Parents can follow a simple guide on the Directgov website to see whether they are eligible. Further information is available on the HM Revenue & Customs website, including a number of leaflets which can be viewed online, or downloaded as PDFs.
Download the contents of this page:
as a Word Document
Last updated on 14/04/2009
