Tax-Free Childcare calculator

Tax-Free Childcare pays £2 for every £8 you put into a childcare account, a 20% subsidy on nursery, childminder and wraparound costs, capped at £2,000 per child per year (£4,000 for a disabled child). Despite the name, it has nothing to do with your tax code.

Calculator

Figures update as you type. Press Calculate to jump to the result.

Childcare cost per child, per month

Children in childcare

Disabled child rate

The government adds

£1,920.00 a year

Of £9,600 of childcare, you pay £7,680.00, the state pays £2 for every £8 you put in, up to £2,000 per child per year.

The £100,000 catch

Tax-Free Childcare stops the moment either parent's adjusted net income exceeds £100,000, and it ends all at once, with no taper. One pound over the line forfeits the entire £1,920.00 above, and the free-hours entitlement with it. A pension contribution that brings ANI back under £100,000 is often worth several times its cost for a parent near the threshold.

Who is eligible?

Both parents (or a single parent) must be working and each earning at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at minimum wage, the child must be 11 or under (16 or under if disabled), and, the binding constraint for higher earners, neither parent's adjusted net income may exceed £100,000. That last test is a cliff edge, not a taper: one pound of ANI over the line ends the top-up and the free-hours entitlement for the whole household, and it is re-confirmed every three months. It cannot be combined with childcare vouchers or Universal Credit childcare support, you pick one scheme, and unlike most benefits it doesn't care which parent earns what, only that each stays under the ceiling, which is why a pension contribution by the higher earner is the standard rescue for a family about to cross it.

Worth knowing before you rely on the numbers

The cap is applied quarterly (£500 per child per 3 months), so lumpy termly bills can waste cap in one quarter while leaving it unused in another. Pay into the account evenly if you can.
The £100,000 test is per parent, per year, and re-confirmed every 3 months. A bonus that tips one parent over ends the top-up for the whole household, the bonus calculator and salary sacrifice pages cover the fix.
Free childcare hours (15/30 hours) are a separate scheme with the same £100,000 cliff, losing both at once is what makes the threshold so expensive to cross. The childcare cliff calculator prices both losses together and works out the pension sacrifice that avoids them.

Figures checked 2026-08-28 by Hadi against gov.uk/tax-free-childcare. Method on the about page.

How to use the Tax-Free Childcare calculator

1
Enter your childcare costs for the quarter or the year.
2
Enter both parents' adjusted net income, since either one over £100,000 ends eligibility.
3
Read the government top-up: £2 for every £8 you pay in, capped per child.
4
Compare it against childcare vouchers if you are still on the old scheme.

When should you use the Tax-Free Childcare calculator?

Use it when you pay for childcare, and check it again if either parent is approaching £100,000.

You pay for nursery or a childminder

The scheme adds 25% to what you pay, up to £2,000 a child a year.

One of you is near £100,000

A single pound over the threshold ends the top-up for the whole household.

You are still on childcare vouchers

The closed voucher scheme is better for some earners and worse for others.

You are comparing with free hours

Tax-Free Childcare runs alongside the free hours, and the two are worth comparing together.

Where to go next

All 51 calculators share one tested engine, so a figure from the tax-free childcare calculator agrees with every other page here. See the full calculator index or the pay and tax guides.