Merete A Parent’s Guide to Childcare Vouchers * Making work pay more, so you can play more.eA What are Childcare Vouchers? How much can | save? How it affects my salary How it affects existing Benefits Managing your Account is Child's Play Who are Maximise FAQs How to Register m e a What are Childcare Vouchers? Childcare Vouchers are a Government initiative designed to help working parents meet the cost of childcare. Working parents can be up to £933 per year better off by “swapping” some of their salary for Childcare Vouchers. ‘The saving is per employee, s0 if both parents work, @ family, could save £1,866 per year! Employers benef too, with savings of up to £402" per scheme member as the vouchers are not subject to Employer's National Insurance Contributions, Vouchers can then be exchanged by the parents for the cost of Ofsted Registered childcare (such as Nurseries, Nannies, Childminders, Breakfast or After School Clubs, Holiday Schemes etc). Maximise Childcare Vouchers are accepted nationwide, but it the Childcare provider isn’t already registered with Maximise, they can easily and freely register fo aocept our Vouchers: (oroviding they are Ofsted Registered). This means that there |s no need for working parents to change their curent childcare arrangements to benef rom the savings, 66 The little angels always want the latest toy, and they have an amazing way of growing out of all their clothes at exactly the came time! ches ete cone! QQ (Childcare Vouchers: ccan be used until 1st ‘September folowing the child's 15th Birthday, and because there is no exniry date on Maximise CChidare Vouchers parents can save thom in the Maximise account unt they are needed. This can bbe especially handy for those with children at schoo! who need {o fund the cost ofthe summer holidays, ‘The great thing about Childcare Vouchers is that they offer savings to both working parents and employers. As a resuk, parents can Maximise the beneft of going to work and ‘employers can Maximise morale and retention. Great resus from a simple to use scheme,a How much can you save? The amount that you can save by using Childcare Vouchers depends upon 2 things: Fe Tho value of ve He Your tax band rs that you ordor For example, Amy Other works full time, and her litle boy goes, to 2 Registered Childminder while she is at work, Amy decides to join her Employer's Maximise Childcare Voucher Scherne, land orders £243 por month of vouchers. ‘Amy i paid £1603 per month, and through a salary sacrifice agreement, this is reduced to £1 Chidoare Vouchers. On this she saves £48.60 tax and £29.16 National insurance, which equates to £953.12 per year. of salary and £243 of This means that Amy's take home pay is reduced by £165.24 per month, but she receives £243 of vouchers with which to ppay her Chiidminder. You can get a personalised quotation by visting our website at wwrw.maximisethebenefit.c0.uki Joulate-what-you-can-save: with-Chilicare-Vo This saving is per person, so if you are from a family where both of you work, potentialy your family can save £1,866" per year! ‘The amount of vouchers you can receive" depends upon when ‘you joined your Employer's Chikicare Voucher Scherne, I you joined on or befor per month or £55 per week Apri 201%, the amount is £243 It you joined on or after 6th April 2011, the amount will depend ‘upon your tax band, Tex Band Weekly Monthly Basic es £243) Higher £28 Bie ‘Raditional 22 or “without being lable for PAYE and NI “oased on both parents taking the maxénum amount of vouchers. How it affects your salary There are 2 ways that an Employer can choose to operate a Childcare Voucher scheme. By far the most common of these is a Salary Sacrifice Scheme. ‘A Salary Sacrifice Scheme means that your Employer will ask you to sign a Salary Sacrifice Agreement. This means that {you agree to give up your right fo a set amount ol your salary in return for a voucher or other benefit (this case Childcare Vouchers). The Agreement usualy la a year, after which time you either renew the agreement or leave the scheme. This is the most common arrangement because it doesn't cost either the Employer or Employee anything. infact, it saves both Employer and Employee money. ‘The akornative to this is ‘an Addition to Salary scheme, wi the employer pays for the Vouchers on behalf of the Employee, in addition to thoir usual salary, AS long {a i fs within the maximum voucher Corder allowed for your tax ban (or NI implications for the empl hen there are no addtional tax but the employer will have the adaitional cost of paying for your Vouchers. 66 The little angels always want the latest toy, and they have an amazing way of growing out of all their clothes at exactly the same time. 9 9 Ena Halneworth, Director, Maximisea Moen It is worth bearing in mind that if you take Childcare Vouchers it can have an impact on your entitlement to other benefits. This is because the salary sacrifice agreement alters your salary for the period that it is in place. ‘You should always ensure that your Voucher Order does not drop your salary below the Lower Earnings threshold (forthe tax year 2011/12, this is £102 per is can affect ‘Some benefits are based on your salary ‘Statutory Maternity Pay ‘As your entillerent is to 90% of salary for the fist 6 reducing your salary will ave an impact the amou paid for those 6 weeks it you are Working Families Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits ary that will be te your entitlement. Ifyou are currently receiving WTC or CTC you should call them and ‘ask what impact taking Childcare Vouchers will have on the amount of Tax Credits you receive. aging your Account is Child’s Play a When you sign up with your Employer’s Maximise Childcare Voucher Scheme you will be given a login for our Online Account Manager. You can do everything you need to manage your vouchers ia ‘our Online Account Manager, and because itis available 24 hours a d days a year, il fils in around your ite and your tarry Via the Online Account Manager you can: Fe Chook your Account Balance: Make one off payments to fcare Provider ‘Set up a regular payrent to your Childcare Provider (Check that your latest voucher order has been received * * * ‘rom your Employer * * * ‘Change the amount ol Vouchers you order (Change your Chidcare Provider if you need to (Order Email Vouchers ifyou choose not to pay the Childcare Provider directly What is more, whenever you make a payment to your Childcare provider, we will email ther an you to let everyone know that ‘payment has been made on your behal. f you don't ha don't worry our F you, and set up '§ which you can your account to send you paper v hhand into your Childcare Provider. 66 Being able to manage my account online is great. It means I can take care of things after the kids have gone to bed. um 99Maximise is owned and run by 2 working mums. We know first-hand, how difficult it can be to juggle the demands of a hectic working day, with the chaos of a rewarding family life. \We also know that, when you have Kids, every penny counts, because not only do the litle angels a vay of growing ut of al th mel Nappi 3s want the latest tc bout they hay at exactly the s re lfe balance right, and be it harder, or longer h 66 We are so passionate about what we do, and the way we do it, that we are proud to have our 3 kids, Orla age 6, Ben aged 5 and Finley, 3 1/2 as the ambassadors for Maximise. 99 Asab are committed to providing simple, straight-forward solutions that are designed to make life bot jer and more financially benelical for both working snd employ ving to offer the companies we deal with! that expect to receive from the We are also committed to being an ethical company. To us this means that; He We ty to reduce our carbon footprint wherever possible by offering electronic versions of brochures, printer friendly pages ete He Oiler a comprehensive but value for money service, ‘making i accessible to companies of all sizes, He Donate at least 5% of our profits to Charities that work with Chitiren, as well as promoting an active ivement by all Our staf in our norin o Of the Year (please see our website for charity) uring that our webste, information and inclusive to all, respective of disabity technical ‘one number rather than generating mn you ringing us!PFA If have to sacrifice part of my salary where is the benefit? When you sacrifice part of your salary, you receive the same amount that you have sacrificed in another way, in this ease as Chidcare Vouchers. Because these w ot lable for AYE and NI deductions you save what you should have paid in PAYE and NI. This is why you are general better off taking Childcare Vouchers, A member of my family looks after my children, but | pay them to do it. Can | give the Vouchers to them instead? Unfortun ley, no. HMRC rules state that the Childcare Provider ‘must be registered with an inspectorate such as Ofsted. What if my Childcare Provider doesn’t accept Maximise Childcare Vouchers? In the event that your Chidcare Provider isnot already registered with Maximise, then itis quick, easy and free for thom to register. All you ned to do is give us their details, and we wil give them a call, Most Chikicare Providers are happy to join Maximise as we make sure that their payments are weir bark processed quickly and eficiently, directly into ‘account, saving them time waiting for cheques to clear et. Is it easy to change the amount of Vouchers | want? Your employer will have specified how regularly you car the amount of your Voucher Order. It is usually every 6 months, fr once a year. Your online Account Manager wil sh the next change is allowed, and ppre-book the change for it to take effect from that date. change ne date What if | change my employer? Ityou change your employer to one that doesn't use Maximise Childcare Vouchers, tell them about the great savings for both the Employer and Employee and hopetuly they will decide to join. tt not, orif they already use a aifforant provider, don't worry, you wil stil be able to access your Online Account Manager, and will stil be able to use any remaining Maximise Childcare Vouchers to pay your Childeare Provider untl they run out, When do my vouchers expire? ‘Your Vouchers don't have an expiry date however they can only bbe used unt the tst September afler your child turns 18 (16 if they are disabled) [have two children does that mean | can claim double? ‘The childcare voucher scheme does not recognise how many chiléren you have, itis purely based on the amount of salary that you are alowed to exchange for vouchers without having to pay Tax and NI per person, so if both parents wor, then booth can claim up to the mamum of £24 per mon per person dependent Upon your tax band, How to register If your Employer already has a Maximise Childcare Voucher scheme, then all you need to register is the scheme ref number. (Once you have the scheme ref number it can take just a few minutes to get it set uo, You can register through our online account manager fat winw.maximisothebonett.co.uk’ I you rogistor contine your scheme is sot up in a few minutes. You can call us on 0800 6447844 and we will post ‘an application pack out to you. You can call email us at thefamily@maximisothoben: ‘and we will emai the documents to you You can speak to your Employer as they wil have a +e % supply of registration forms Or visit our website www.maximisethebenefit.co.ukMerete www.maximisethebenefit.co.uk t: 0800 644 7844 e: thefamily@maximisethebenefit.co.uk