Working Mothers To Get Child Care Tax Break Worth Thousands Of Pounds

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9784012/Working-mothers-to-get-child-care-tax-break-worth-thousands-of-pounds.html

Families could be entitled to claim up to £2,000 per child every year from their tax bills to cover the cost of childminders and nurseries as part of a new government scheme to help families.

The childcare plans form the centrepiece of new proposals set out in the Coalition’s mid-term review, which is being unveiled today by Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister at a rare joint press conference in Downing Street.

Other new measures will include new financial support to help first time buyers get on the housing ladder by making mortgages more affordable to young people.

The Government will also announce a new flat rate £140 a week state pension, funded by increases in the state retirement age, and new plans for more new road tolls to cover the cost of new investment in transport infrastructure.

In the age of austerity more freebies.

[easy2012]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9784012/Working-mothers-to-get-child-care-tax-break-worth-thousands-of-pounds.html

claim up to £2,000 per child every year from their tax bills to

In the age of austerity more freebies.

Just tax refund ?

Edited January 7, 2013 by easy2012

[mikthe20]

Isn't there already a child care voucher scheme which can cut costs dramatically? Why is there never any mention of that in these stories?

Anyway, even more subsidies to employers, private nurseries, and the housing industry to keep both people in a couple working full time and paying massive mortgages.

[BNS]

Depends.

If it is just handed to them.... bad.

If they actually still have to go out there and work to benefit from such a tax allowance increase then less bad.

Of course this is just a pre-election bribe, doncha know the election is only 18 months away now.

[Gone baby gone]

Isn't there already a child care voucher scheme which can cut costs dramatically? Why is there never any mention of that in these stories?

It's not that generous. The child care voucher scheme allows either employers to "gift" vouchers to employees - which comes off taxed income for the employer, and is tax free (up to a point) for the employee, or they can allow the employee to "buy" vouchers using their salary at a slight discount with a very small tax saving.

My wife works part-time as a Teacher (therefore employed by the local council) and she has to buy the vouchers - we are probably about £10 a month better off because of this.

I am self employed and gift myself some vouchers which means we are about £160 a month better off.

So the current system depends on how "nice" your employer is to you, and for once the public sector isn't as "nice" as the private sector to it's employees.

[Gone baby gone]

Of course this is just a pre-election bribe, doncha know the election is only 18 months away now.

Indeed, and they've just shat on a lot of families with working parents who are "natural" Tory voters. So this is probably a good way to try and get them on side. I reckon there were no plans for this, until about a week ago when opinion polls probably made someone in Conservative Central Office get a little nervous...

[Snugglybear]

Isn't there already a child care voucher scheme which can cut costs dramatically? Why is there never any mention of that in these stories?

Anyway, even more subsidies to employers, private nurseries, and the housing industry to keep both people in a couple working full time and paying massive mortgages.

Child care vouchers are only offered by employers, and not very many of them. The only thing offered by the Government is 15 hours of free early education each week for 38 weeks of the year for 3 and 4 year-olds. 15 hours at fixed times isn't much help if you want to work, unless you can find a setting that takes that 15 hours off your bill, and even then you have to pay for the rest.

I suspect what is more important to the government than the subsidisies that working mothers will be paying some tax on what they earn, rather than not paying any tax if they stay at home.

[Bloo Loo]

http://www.telegraph...-of-pounds.html

In the age of austerity more freebies.

work work work.

Its UK mans and womans curse.

When I was in my 30s, I was able, with a sales job, buy a four bedroom house with a mortgage of 3 times my salary and commission, run a car for the wife and support two children into the world. My wife was not working.

Today, to do the exact same thing, Id need, (doing the same work) a pay rise, then a 7 times liar loan, a bangor for the wife and she'd have to work too....

[Anna_1980]

i cannot understand why they cannot give a tax free allowance for children, that parents can allocate to themselves

and for those not working/earning enough to benefit to provide "tax credit" - although I'm not keen on the idea of it as there is an abundance of single mothers who see their kids as the way not to work

Disclaimer: There is a lot of single mothers, who would like to go back to work and cannot due to the childcare costs

[SarahBell]

i cannot understand why they cannot give a tax free allowance for children, that parents can allocate to themselves

and for those not working/earning enough to benefit to provide "tax credit" - although I'm not keen on the idea of it as there is an abundance of single mothers who see their kids as the way not to work

Disclaimer: There is a lot of single mothers, who would like to go back to work and cannot due to the childcare costs

£1055.6 for first child

£696.8 per extra child?

[Bloo Loo]

i cannot understand why they cannot give a tax free allowance for children, that parents can allocate to themselves

and for those not working/earning enough to benefit to provide "tax credit" - although I'm not keen on the idea of it as there is an abundance of single mothers who see their kids as the way not to work

Disclaimer: There is a lot of single mothers, who would like to go back to work and cannot due to the childcare costs

child care costs.....well, they are going to be high, because, the carers need to meet their own living costs out of their wages.

So, thats two people at least dependent on someone else to create some wealth to pay for them...the lady doing the work, and the carer helping her get there.

And if the lady finds work in the Local Authority, she and the carer remain a drain on the common wealth.

[winkie]

i cannot understand why they cannot give a tax free allowance for children, that parents can allocate to themselves

and for those not working/earning enough to benefit to provide "tax credit" - although I'm not keen on the idea of it as there is an abundance of single mothers who see their kids as the way not to work

Disclaimer: There is a lot of single mothers, who would like to go back to work and cannot due to the childcare costs

Few years ago as a working single mum with a mortgage to pay, I went to the authorities to see if there was any help given towards childminding costs..... was told the only thing to do was to give up work stay at home and claim benefits to live on, and benefits to pay the mortgage interest....thankfully I didn't take their advise and found someone in the community that I trusted to help.....then they said they should get a CRB check and I shouldn't be using unauthorised childminders.....you couldn't make it up.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

work work work.

Its UK mans and womans curse.

When I was in my 30s, I was able, with a sales job, buy a four bedroom house with a mortgage of 3 times my salary and commission, run a car for the wife and support two children into the world. My wife was not working.

Today, to do the exact same thing, Id need, (doing the same work) a pay rise, then a 7 times liar loan, a bangor for the wife and she'd have to work too....

Alternatively you could move to another country where the house prices are less.

[Bloo Loo]

Alternatively you could move to another country where the house prices are less.

But why would I have to?....something went wrong in the last 20 years.....Im guessing it was banking

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

When we start a family the other half will not need to work and we will be able to get by just fine. In fact if we wished we could move to a cheaper area / smaller house and go on regular holidays eat out etc..

The only reason the government want high houses and two workers is so they and the bankers can skim a percentage for themselves. In a lot of cases it would make more sense for the mother to stay at home and look after the house and children. Much of the time it is a zero sum game.

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

But why would I have to?....something went wrong in the last 20 years.....Im guessing it was banking

Yes something went badly wrong, the older generation sold out to the bankers and politicians and wow the young generation are merely slaves to their system. I would recommend young people to move to a different territory which did not treat young people as slaves.

[snowflux]

It's not that generous. The child care voucher scheme allows either employers to "gift" vouchers to employees - which comes off taxed income for the employer, and is tax free (up to a point) for the employee, or they can allow the employee to "buy" vouchers using their salary at a slight discount with a very small tax saving.

My wife works part-time as a Teacher (therefore employed by the local council) and she has to buy the vouchers - we are probably about £10 a month better off because of this.

I am self employed and gift myself some vouchers which means we are about £160 a month better off.

So the current system depends on how "nice" your employer is to you, and for once the public sector isn't as "nice" as the private sector to it's employees.

I didn't realise that was possible!

I'm a lone, self-employed dad, and I was under the impression that childcare vouchers were just for employed people. Perhaps I should use an accountant after all!

[Gone baby gone]

I didn't realise that was possible!

I'm a lone, self-employed dad, and I was under the impression that childcare vouchers were just for employed people. Perhaps I should use an accountant after all!

Yes, you can give yourself vouchers and the cost is offset against your tax bill. IIRC it's only something like a day and a half a week that is tax free as a benefit, and it's also not available if you earn above a certain threshold.

Worth checking out though. I didn't realise it was possible (although I didn't even know childcare vouchers existed either) until a pal told me about them...

[mikthe20]

It's not that generous. The child care voucher scheme allows either employers to "gift" vouchers to employees - which comes off taxed income for the employer, and is tax free (up to a point) for the employee, or they can allow the employee to "buy" vouchers using their salary at a slight discount with a very small tax saving.

My wife works part-time as a Teacher (therefore employed by the local council) and she has to buy the vouchers - we are probably about £10 a month better off because of this.

I am self employed and gift myself some vouchers which means we are about £160 a month better off.

So the current system depends on how "nice" your employer is to you, and for once the public sector isn't as "nice" as the private sector to it's employees.

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

[Gone baby gone]

Right on cue...

Childcare costs 'keep many in poverty' - Barnardo's

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20930266

It is "impossible" for some of the UK's poorest families to work their way out of poverty because of high childcare costs, a charity has warned.

A report by Barnardo's says some single parents with two pre-school children will "potentially have to pay to go to work" despite imminent welfare changes.

The universal credit benefit system due this year will replace a number of existing working-age benefits.

Ministers have said that the changes will make it easier for people to work.

Children aged three and four, and many two-year-olds from the poorest families, are entitled to 15 hours of free early years education in the UK.

But in its Paying to Work report, Barnardo's - the UK's largest children's charity - suggests parents trying to work extra hours face paying for childcare while simultaneously having their benefits reduced, and starting to pay tax.

This combination, it says, "will potentially leave some parents with very little money left over".

The report suggests that a single parent with two pre-school children, who tries to work up to 24 hours a week on the national minimum wage of £6.19 an hour, will "gain nothing from working more hours".

"Lone parents with two pre-school children will potentially have to pay to go to work," it adds.

Why some of those single mums (and dads) stay on benefits perchance...?

The government announcement today smacks of a panic measure - they've probably had sight of this report for a few days and are trying to diffuse the UC bomb before it blows up in their face...

[ViciousChicken]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9784012/Working-mothers-to-get-child-care-tax-break-worth-thousands-of-pounds.html

In the age of austerity more freebies.

It'd be a good idea to wait and see whether this is any more generous than the existing voucher scheme before making any pronouncements. Also, your thread title probably needs changing- I can't see anything suggesting these benefits will only be available for mothers and not fathers. That couldn't possibly withstand legal challenge, so I doubt the government would try to limit it to women only. I bloody hope not anyway, as I shall only be working 2 days a week when I go back to work after maternity leave and won't be paying enough tax to derive much benefit from either this or the voucher scheme, whereas my husband will be.

eta- I see you got the 'working mothers' part from the Torygraph article, but not sure what they're basing it on. Typical of that cruddy rag to think childcare is only the responsibility of the mother and to be paid for from her earnings. I have seen elsewhere that it may be the child benefit claimant who gets this tax break. That would make a lot more sense, as it also includes fathers and kinship carers. It would be utterly outrageous to exclude eg single working dads, and there are hundreds of thousands of male headed one parent households in the UK. No doubt some of them are working.

Edited January 7, 2013 by ViciousChicken

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Dual income parents already get a massive tax break. Its called 2 individual tax allowances instead of 1.

[ViciousChicken]

Dual income parents already get a massive tax break. Its called 2 individual tax allowances instead of 1.

I would hardly call personal allowances for adults a tax break. Certainly, it is ridiculous that couples can't transfer the tax free allowances between them, especially as they are considered one unit for benefits purposes. A gross inconsistency. But it's still rather a stretch to suggest that two adults having their own allowance amounts to a tax break. It is simply that they are not being treated as illogically and inconsistently as a one income family (assuming the lower earner is not earning below the the income tax threshold of course- in which case they are being screwed over in the same manner as a single earner family, just not quite as much).

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

I would hardly call personal allowances for adults a tax break. Certainly, it is ridiculous that couples can't transfer the tax free allowances between them, especially as they are considered one unit for benefits purposes. A gross inconsistency. But it's still rather a stretch to suggest that two adults having their own allowance amounts to a tax break. It is simply that they are not being treated as illogically and inconsistently as a one income family (assuming the lower earner is not earning below the the income tax threshold of course- in which case they are being screwed over in the same manner as a single earner family, just not quite as much).

Being screwed over "not quite as much" sounds like a tax break to me.

[Gone baby gone]

I would hardly call personal allowances for adults a tax break. Certainly, it is ridiculous that couples can't transfer the tax free allowances between them, especially as they are considered one unit for benefits purposes. A gross inconsistency.

+1.

Until this anomaly (which suits the government) is fixed, the benefits system will continue to be broken.