The maximum income threshold for the tax-free childcare scheme
will temporarily be increased to £150,000 (from £100,000) for critical workers
for tax year 2020/21 only. The Childcare Payments (Coronavirus and
Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations, SI 2020/656, will make the change to
ensure that critical workers whose income exceeds the normal threshold for
reasons related to coronavirus can continue to claim.
The regulations are drafted narrowly to make clear that this
adjustment is intended for critical workers whose increased income is ‘mainly
attributable to earnings from work undertaken directly or indirectly as a
result of the incidence or transmission of coronavirus’. For these purposes the
definition of ‘critical worker’ is aligned with the Department for Education
list of those parents whose children were able to access schools after
‘lockdown’ on 23 March.
The regulations also amend the rules on childcare accounts,
from 21 July 2020, to allow permitted payments from accounts to include
payments to intermediaries for the purpose of paying a childcare provider.
The maximum income threshold for the tax-free childcare scheme
will temporarily be increased to £150,000 (from £100,000) for critical workers
for tax year 2020/21 only. The Childcare Payments (Coronavirus and
Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations, SI 2020/656, will make the change to
ensure that critical workers whose income exceeds the normal threshold for
reasons related to coronavirus can continue to claim.
The regulations are drafted narrowly to make clear that this
adjustment is intended for critical workers whose increased income is ‘mainly
attributable to earnings from work undertaken directly or indirectly as a
result of the incidence or transmission of coronavirus’. For these purposes the
definition of ‘critical worker’ is aligned with the Department for Education
list of those parents whose children were able to access schools after
‘lockdown’ on 23 March.
The regulations also amend the rules on childcare accounts,
from 21 July 2020, to allow permitted payments from accounts to include
payments to intermediaries for the purpose of paying a childcare provider.
