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If you've already registered, sign in to your childcare account.
Find our guidance on signing in to your childcare account.
If you and your partner (if you have one) work full or part-time hours, you could get Tax-Free Childcare. You can claim for children up to 12 years of age, or up to 17 if they have a disability.
If you don't work, you could still be eligible if you get either one of these:
You can't apply for a child you're on maternity, paternity or adoption leave for, unless you're starting or re-starting work within the next 31 days. If you have other eligible children, you could apply or continue to claim for them while you're on parental leave for another child.
Tax-Free Childcare is replacing Childcare Vouchers which are no longer available for new applicants.
You can get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as 30 hours funded childcare if you're eligible for both.
Check your eligibility on the GOV.UK Tax-Free Childcare page.
Watch this short video from the Department for Education (DfE) showing how to apply for 30 hours childcare and Tax-Free Childcare:
When you apply for Tax-Free Childcare you'll set up an online childcare account. For every £8 you pay into the account, the government will add £2, or £4 for children with a disability. The government will pay up to £2,000 per child per year, or £4,000 per year for children with a disability.
You will use this account to pay your childcare provider.
You can apply for Tax-Free Childcare any time you think you could be eligible.
You can also apply if you're not eligible because you're not working, but are due to start work within the next 31 days.
You must reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months if you're claiming Tax-Free Childcare. You must do this 3 months from the date you applied, even if you haven't started using your account.
You start receiving Tax-Free Childcare once you:
You can still set up an account to start saving, even if you haven't started using childcare yet.
You can only use the Tax-Free Childcare to pay for registered or approved childcare providers. This includes:
Search our Family Information Directory to find childcare providers and ask them if they are signed up to accept Tax-Free Childcare payments.
You can only pay a relative who provides your childcare from your Tax-Free Childcare account if they're:
A relative means the child's:
You can claim other funding schemes at the same time as claiming Tax-Free Childcare if you're eligible, including:
You can't use Tax-Free Childcare with:
Find out which funding schemes work best for your family with the online childcare calculator.