Family · Money · UK

Tax-Free Childcare: how the account works, who is eligible, and reconfirming every 3 months

Tax-Free Childcare is an online childcare account: for every £8 you pay in, the government adds £2, up to £500 every 3 months for each child (£1,000 if disabled). A child qualifies until the September after they turn 11, or 16 if disabled. You must reconfirm every 3 months, or the top-up stops.

Last updated 17 Oct 2026 · Joel Lister, founder of Radar

Who this is for: working parents in the UK paying for approved childcare, and anyone with a childcare account whose next reconfirmation is coming up.

Who it is not for: parents claiming Universal Credit or getting childcare vouchers, who cannot have Tax-Free Childcare at the same time, or anyone whose childcare provider is not signed up to the scheme.

QuestionThe answerSource
How it worksYou open a childcare account, you and the government both pay into it, and you pay your provider from it. Money you add usually shows within one working day, with the top-up at the same time.GOV.UK
What the government adds£2 for every £8 you pay in: on a £250 bill you pay £200 and the government adds £50.GOV.UK
Cap for each childUp to £500 every 3 months, which is up to £2,000 over a year.GOV.UK
Cap for a disabled childUp to £1,000 every 3 months, which is up to £4,000 over a year.GOV.UK
Age limitUntil the September after the child turns 11, or the September after they turn 16 if disabled.GOV.UK
EarningsYou, and your partner if you have one, each expect to earn at least £2,643.68 over the next 3 months if 21 or over, £2,256.80 if 18 to 20, or £1,664 if under 18 or an apprentice. Neither of you can expect adjusted net income over £100,000 this tax year.GOV.UK
ReconfirmingSign in to your childcare account every 3 months and confirm you are still eligible. If you do not, your Tax-Free Childcare stops.GOV.UK, GOV.UK
Universal Credit and vouchersYou cannot get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as Universal Credit or childcare vouchers.GOV.UK

How does Tax-Free Childcare work?

You set up an online childcare account. You and the government both pay into it, and you use the money in it to pay your childcare provider. You can pay in by Direct Debit, standing order or bank transfer; the money usually shows within one working day, and the government’s top-up is added at the same time (GOV.UK).

For every £8 you pay in, the government pays £2. GOV.UK’s own example: a £250 childcare bill, of which you pay £200 and the government adds £50 (GOV.UK).

How much the government adds, and the yearly cap

  • For each child: up to £500 every 3 months, which is up to £2,000 over a year (GOV.UK).
  • For a disabled child: up to £1,000 every 3 months, which is up to £4,000 over a year. The extra can pay for more hours of childcare or for specialist equipment such as mobility aids (GOV.UK).

The cap is for each child, so two children each have their own. GOV.UK counts a child as disabled if they are certified blind or severely sight-impaired, or get one of the payments it lists, such as Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment (GOV.UK).

What you can pay for

Only approved childcare, from a provider already signed up to Tax-Free Childcare: registered childminders, nurseries, clubs and schools, or a home care worker from a registered agency, for example. Check the provider is signed up before you apply. If the provider supplies them, you can also pay for extras such as nappies, meals and trips (GOV.UK). GOV.UK explains what counts as approved, and how to check a provider is registered, on its approved childcare page.

Tax-Free Childcare eligibility

You can usually get it if you are in work, employed or self-employed, or on sick or annual leave, or on maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption or statutory neonatal care leave. If you are not working, you may still qualify if your partner works and you get certain benefits, such as Carer’s Allowance (GOV.UK).

Earnings. You, and your partner if you have one, must each expect to earn at least this much before tax over the next 3 months, the same as the National Minimum Wage or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average (GOV.UK):

  • £2,643.68 if you are 21 or over;
  • £2,256.80 if you are 18 to 20;
  • £1,664 if you are under 18 or an apprentice.

If you started your business less than 12 months ago, it does not matter how little you earn (GOV.UK).

The £100,000 limit. You cannot claim if you or your partner expect adjusted net income, including any foreign income, of over £100,000 for the current tax year (GOV.UK).

The child. They are eligible until the September after they turn 11, or the September after they turn 16 if disabled. You cannot claim if the child does not usually live with you, if you foster the child, or if you or your partner get a childcare bursary or grant (GOV.UK).

Status. You need a National Insurance number and a qualifying status, such as British or Irish citizenship, settled or pre-settled status, or permission to access public funds. Your partner needs a National Insurance number too (GOV.UK).

Universal Credit and childcare vouchers

You cannot get Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. Wait for a decision on your Tax-Free Childcare application before you cancel a Universal Credit claim. If you get childcare vouchers, you must tell your employer within 90 days of applying, so they stop them; a partner who gets them must do the same (GOV.UK). Which is better depends on your situation, and GOV.UK points to its childcare calculator to compare (GOV.UK).

How to apply

You need your National Insurance number (and your partner’s), your Unique Taxpayer Reference if you are self-employed, and the UK birth certificate reference number for each child if you have one. It usually takes 20 minutes. You will usually know straight away if you are eligible; if HMRC need to check anything, usually within 10 days (GOV.UK).

Reconfirming every 3 months

This is the part that catches people out. You must sign in to your childcare account every 3 months to confirm you are still eligible. If you do not, your Tax-Free Childcare will stop (GOV.UK). The same check applies to Free Childcare for Working Parents, done in the same account (GOV.UK). Company directors must give evidence each time they reconfirm (GOV.UK).

  • When it is due. Your account shows when you next have to check your details (GOV.UK). The periods run back to back, each starting on the same day of the month (Childcare Payments Regulations 2015, reg. 4).
  • How early you can do it. From 28 days before the next 3-month period begins (reg. 6). Dorset Council’s page, relaying HMRC, says you will get a text or email 4 weeks before the deadline (Dorset Council).
  • Do it before the last week. A reconfirmation made in the 7 days before the new period begins may not be decided until 7 days after you make it (reg. 6).

If you miss the reconfirmation

GOV.UK says only that your Tax-Free Childcare will stop (GOV.UK). Dorset Council’s page explains what that means in practice: the account becomes “pay only”. You can still pay money in and pay your provider from it, but you get none of the government top-up on what you pay in (Dorset Council).

You can still reconfirm late, during the 3-month period it was for, but HMRC may wait 7 days before deciding it is valid, and you can then pay in with the top-up only for the rest of that period, from the day they decide (Childcare Payments Regulations 2015, reg. 7). The weeks you missed are not made up. If you become eligible again later, you restart by reconfirming your details in your childcare account (Dorset Council).

Can’t sign in? Contact the Childcare Service helpline. If you could not get into your account because of technical problems with the childcare service, you may be able to claim compensation (GOV.UK).

For the school year’s other dates, see school admissions, and for the tax year’s, tax year dates.

What Radar does with this

  • Put “Reconfirm Tax-Free Childcare” on your Radar for the date your childcare account gives, repeating every 3 months, and it comes round in time to do it inside the 28-day window, on the same radar as everything else due in the next ninety days.

Radar reads the calendars, task lists and CRM you connect, and the dates you give it. It writes back only when you press a button, and it never sends anything by itself.

Limitations and status

  • Radar keeps the date you give it. It does not open, sign in to or reconfirm a childcare account, pay a provider, or read anything from HMRC.
  • GOV.UK does not say in its own words what happens to the account after a missed reconfirmation; the “pay only” explanation here is from Dorset Council, relaying HMRC’s rules. Check your own account or the Childcare Service helpline.
Put the year’s household dates in your calendar — free, no accountLook at a sample radar — no login

Also free: Radar Lite, the habit tracker on its own, for you and anyone 13 or over in the family.

Questions

How does Tax-Free Childcare work?

You open an online childcare account, pay money into it, and the government adds £2 for every £8 you pay in, up to £500 every 3 months for each child, or £1,000 for a disabled child. You pay your approved childcare provider from the account. (GOV.UK)

Who is eligible for Tax-Free Childcare?

Usually parents in work, with each parent expecting to earn at least £2,643.68 over the next 3 months if 21 or over, neither expecting adjusted net income over £100,000, and a child up to the September after they turn 11 (16 if disabled). You cannot have it with Universal Credit or childcare vouchers. (GOV.UK, GOV.UK)

What is the yearly limit for Tax-Free Childcare?

Up to £2,000 over a year for each child, as £500 every 3 months, or up to £4,000 over a year for a disabled child, as £1,000 every 3 months. (GOV.UK)

What happens if I forget to reconfirm Tax-Free Childcare?

Your Tax-Free Childcare stops. Dorset Council, relaying HMRC, says the account becomes pay only: you can still pay in and pay your provider, without the top-up. Reconfirming late in the same 3-month period brings the top-up back only for the rest of that period. (GOV.UK, Dorset Council, legislation.gov.uk)

How early can I reconfirm?

From 28 days before your next 3-month period begins. Your childcare account shows when the next check is due. A reconfirmation in the last 7 days may take up to 7 days to be decided. (legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK)

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Written by Joel Lister, founder of Radar · first published 17 Oct 2026. Radar is made by Neos Technologies Ltd.