Childcare Payments Act 2014 Explained

Short Title:	Childcare Payments Act 2014
Type:	Act
Parliament:	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long Title:	An Act to make provision for and in connection with the making of payments to persons towards the costs of childcare; and to restrict the availability of an exemption from income tax in respect of the provision for an employee of childcare, or vouchers for obtaining childcare, under a scheme operated by or on behalf of the employer.
Year:	2014
Statute Book Chapter:	2014 c. 28
Introduced By:	George Osborne^[1]
Territorial Extent:	England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland^[2]
Royal Assent:	17 December 2014^[3]
Commencement:	17 December 2014^[4]
Status:	Current
Original Text:	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/28/pdfs/ukpga_20140028_en.pdf

The Childcare Payments Act 2014 (c. 28) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent on 17 December 2014, after being introduced on 5 June 2014.^[3] The purpose of the act was to support working families by encouraging parents to take paid employment by offering eligible parents to pay into an online childcare account which will be automatically topped up by the Government, therefore reducing the burden of childcare costs on such families.^{[5] [6]}

Overview

The key provisions as defined by the legislation are:^[7]

• Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will make top-up payments of 25% towards the costs of qualifying childcare into a specially designated childcare account.^[8]
• In order for the costs to qualify they must be in respect of care or supervised activity that is not in the course of compulsory education and the costs of such care are primarily to enable the person to work.^[9]
• In order to qualify for the top-ups a person (or partner) must be in the United Kingdom, aged over 16, responsible for the child, in paid work and must not be receiving Universal Credit or other government childcare support.^[10] In addition a person is not eligible if they and their partner have income in excess of £150,000^[11]

See also

• List of legislation in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: House of Commons - Thursday 5 June 2014 . publications.parliament.uk.
2. Childcare Payments Act 2014 (c. 28) - Paragraph 74
3. Web site: Bill stages — Childcare Payments Act 2014 . services.parliament.uk.
4. Childcare Payments Act 2014 (c. 28) - Paragraph 75
5. Web site: Childcare Payments Act 2014 . 17 December 2014 . Children in Wales - Registered Charity 1020313.
6. Web site: Weekly Tax Matters . 23 January 2015 . KPMG.
7. Web site: Text of statute as originally enacted - Childcare Payments Act 2014 . The Stationery Office . 17 December 2014.
8. Childcare Payments Act 2014, Paragraph 1, Entitlement to receive money towards costs of childcare
9. Childcare Payments Act 2014, Paragraph 2, Qualifying childcare
10. Childcare Payments Act 2014, Paragraphs 6-13
11. Childcare Payments Act 2014 - Explanatory Notes - Conditions of Eligibility - Section 10: The income of the person and his or her partner must not exceed limit