Tax-Free Childcare: Who can claim?

This section of the website explains who can claim Tax-Free Childcare (TFC).

A person is only entitled to receive a TFC top-up payment for an entitlement period in respect of a child if:

In addition, payments out of the account can only be made for 'qualifying childcare'.

In this section you will find:

Who is an eligible person?

TFC can only be claimed by an 'eligible person' for an entitlement period. A person can only be eligible if they meet certain eligibility conditions and if they have a partner then their partner must also meet certain conditions. This section explains who is classed as a partner for TFC purposes.

Eligibility conditions

There are several eligibility conditions that need to be met in order to be eligible for support from TFC. Some have to be met by the claimant and some by the claimant and their partner. This section explains the conditions and gives further detail on the rules around qualifying children, paid work and the requirement not to have childcare support from certain other schemes.

Declarations of eligibility

This section explains what a declaration of eligibility is, how and when a declaration is made and what happens when someone makes a late declaration.

Qualifying children

This section explains who counts as a qualifying child and when a child will be classes as disabled for TFC purposes in order to be eligible for a higher level of support.

Last reviewed/updated 1 July 2022