Tax-Free Childcare Calculator

Estimate your Tax-Free Childcare top-up by child, check core eligibility and compare with legacy Childcare Vouchers if you are already in a scheme. All figures are editable. Share your setup and export a CSV.

Family type

Children using childcare

View

Eligibility inputs (editable)

Per-person income upper limit

Above this, not eligible.

Minimum earnings per adult (monthly)

Roughly 16 hours × minimum wage. Editable.

Govt top-up rate

Max supportable costs per child / year

Govt top-up applies up to this spend cap.

Disabled child cost cap / year

Higher cap for disabled children.

Adult A expected monthly earnings

Income cap exempt?

Exemption allows minimum earnings waiver (for certain benefit statuses). For guidance only.

Adult B expected monthly earnings

Income cap exempt?

Childcare costs per child

Compare with legacy Childcare Vouchers

Voucher sacrifice per month

Only for people who kept a voucher scheme.

Your marginal income tax rate

Employee NI rate

Eligibility status

Total childcare cost ()

Govt top-up ()

What you pay after top-up ()

Per-child summary

Legacy vouchers comparison

Estimated monthly tax + NI saving

Which is better for you

Vouchers closed to new joiners. This compares cash saving vs TFC top-up for your inputs.

Notes: This is a planning tool. Rules can change. Tax-Free Childcare cannot be used at the same time as Tax Credits or Universal Credit for childcare. Always check provider and scheme conditions.

About this calculator

Tax-Free Childcare adds a government top-up to what you pay your childcare account, up to per-child caps. The basic test is whether each adult meets a minimum earnings level while no one exceeds the income limit. This page breaks the sums down per child, supports a higher cap for disabled children, and shows the final out-of-pocket cost after the top-up. If you are already in an employer Childcare Voucher scheme, the comparison panel estimates your monthly tax and NI saving so you can see which route gives the bigger benefit under your inputs.

All rates are editable. Use the share link to keep your setup and export a CSV for notes. For free entitlement hours (15/30 hours) and Universal Credit childcare support, see our other tools and guides.

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