Introduction
This area explains about the childcare element of Working Tax Credit and how it affects parents and childcare providers.
Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit support families with children and working people on low incomes. They give support to families specific circumstances, and respond to their changing needs, by helping when they need it most.
Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit do not affect Child Benefit payments, which we pay separately.
Child Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit supports families with children and young people aged 16-19 (up to age 20 in certain cases) in full-time education (up to and including A-levels, NVQ Level 3 or equivalent) or, providing they are not employees, on government funded, work based training programmes. We base the amount you get on your household income.
You do not have to be working to claim Child Tax Credit.
Working Tax Credit
Working Tax Credit supports working people (employed or self-employed) on low incomes by topping up earnings. It has several elements and we base the amount you get on your circumstances. There are extra amounts for
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working at least 30 hours a week
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working people who have a disability, and
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the costs of 'registered' or 'approved' childcare, known as the childcare element.
If you are responsible for a child or young person, you can claim Working Tax Credit if you are aged 16 or over and work at least 16 hours a week.
This section has been extracted from the HM Revenue & Customs leaflet WTC5 - Help with the cost of childcare|