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Parents can have a Tax-Free Childcare account and still receive Universal Credit, but they cannot usually claim Universal Credit childcare support and Tax-Free Childcare towards the same childcare charges. Using Tax-Free Childcare may also affect existing benefit entitlement calculations.
Because every family’s circumstances are different, parents should check carefully before switching schemes. HMRC provides a comparison calculator here:
Universal Credit childcare support
Under Universal Credit, eligible parents can reclaim a percentage of childcare costs after paying them. This can sometimes be more beneficial for:
The typical process for this is:
Adding your DFE and Ofsted registration numbers to your booking confirmation email templates is usually enough for parents to use these when reporting childcare costs
How much can be reclaimed?
Eligible parents can usually reclaim up to 85% of eligible childcare costs, subject to monthly maximum limits set by the government.
