Childcare Payments Act 2014
| Year | 2014 |
Childcare Payments Act 2014
2014 CHAPTER 28
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.
[17th December 2014]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-
Introductory
1 Entitlement to receive money towards costs of childcare
(1) This Act contains provision for HMRC to make payments ("top-up payments") to be used towards the costs of qualifying childcare.
For the meaning of "qualifying childcare", see section 2.
(2) A person is entitled to receive a top-up payment for an entitlement period in respect of a child if-
(a) the person is an eligible person for the entitlement period (see section 3),
(b) the person has made a valid declaration of eligibility for the entitlement period (see section 4),
(c) the child is a qualifying child (see section 14),
(d) the person holds a childcare account in respect of the child (see section 15), and
(e) a qualifying payment is made into the childcare account during the entitlement period (see section 19).
(3) HMRC must pay the top-up payment into the childcare account.
(4) The amount of the top-up payment is 25% of the amount of the qualifying payment.
(For provision limiting the amount of qualifying payments that may be made into a childcare account in an entitlement period, see section 19(4).)
(5) Regulations may amend subsection (4) so as to substitute a different percentage for the percentage for the time being specified there.
(6) Sections 17 to 25 contain provision about childcare accounts, including restrictions on the kinds of payments that may be made from childcare accounts.
(7) Sections 26 to 29 contain provision about obtaining and sharing information.
(8) Sections 30 to 34 contain special rules about persons who are claiming tax credits or universal credit.
(9) Sections 35 to 55 contain provision about penalties and other enforcement powers, including powers to recover top-up payments in certain circumstances.
(10) Sections 56 to 61 contain provision about reviews and appeals.
(11) Section 62 contains provision enabling HMRC in certain circumstances to compensate persons who have been deprived of the opportunity to receive top-up payments.
(12) Sections 63 and 64 contain provision for the withdrawal of tax exemptions in respect of certain kinds of employer-provided childcare schemes.
2 Qualifying childcare
(1) In this Act "childcare" means any form of care or supervised activity for a child that is not provided in the course of the child's compulsory education.
(2) Childcare that is provided for a person is "qualifying childcare" for the purposes of this Act if-
(a) it is registered or approved childcare, and
(b) the main reason, or one of the main reasons, for incurring the costs of the childcare is-
(i) to enable the person to work, or
(ii) where the person has a partner, to enable both the person and the person's partner to work.
(3) Regulations may-
(a) make provision about what is, or is not, to be regarded as registered or approved childcare for the purposes of this section;
(b) define what is meant by "work" for the purposes of this section;
(c) specify cases where the condition in subsection (2)(b) is to be treated as met;
(d) specify cases where that condition does not need to be met.
(4) Regulations made under subsection (3)(a) may, in particular, provide that childcare provided outside the United Kingdom is registered or approved childcare if it is provided by a person approved by an organisation that is accredited by a person or body under an enactment.
(5) Subsection (2) is subject to any direction made under section 50 (which enables HMRC in certain circumstances to direct that childcare provided by a person is not qualifying childcare).
Eligibility
3 Eligible persons
(1) A person is an eligible person for an entitlement period if-
(a) the person meets the conditions of eligibility in sections 6 to 13, and
(b) in a case where the person has a partner, the person's partner meets the conditions of eligibility in sections 9 to 13.
(2) In sections 6 to 13 "the date of the declaration" means the day on which the person makes a declaration of eligibility for the entitlement period (see section 4).
(3) Sections 6 to 13 need to be read with-
(a) regulations made under them, and
(b) regulations made under subsection (4).
(4) Regulations may provide for exceptions to the requirement for any of the conditions of eligibility in sections 6 to 13 to be met by a person.
(5) Regulations may make provision about when a person is, or is not, to be regarded as another person's partner for the purposes of this Act.
4 Declarations of eligibility
(1) For the purposes of this Act a "declaration of eligibility" is a statement made by a person for an entitlement period which states that the person is an eligible person for the entitlement period.
(2) A declaration of eligibility made by a person for an entitlement period is "valid" for the purposes of this Act if-
(a) HMRC are satisfied that the person is an eligible person for the entitlement period,
(b) on the day on which the declaration is made, there is no other person who-
(i) holds an active childcare account in respect of the relevant child (see subsection (4)), or
(ii) is seeking to hold an active childcare account in respect of that child (see subsection (5)), and
(c) the declaration is made in accordance with regulations under this section.
(3) But subsection (2)(b) does not apply for the purpose of determining whether a declaration of eligibility made for the purposes of opening a childcare account is valid (see instead section 17(2)(c)).
(4) In subsection (2)(b) "the relevant child" means the child in respect of whom the person making the declaration holds a childcare account.
For what is meant by an "active" childcare account, see section 17(3).
(5) For the purposes of this section a person is "seeking to hold an active childcare account" if-
(a) the person has applied to open a childcare account and the application has not yet been determined,
(b) the person has made a valid declaration of eligibility for an entitlement period which has not yet begun, or
(c) the person has made a declaration of eligibility for an entitlement period which, if valid, would result in the person holding an active childcare account for that period.
(6) Regulations may make further provision about declarations of eligibility, including, in particular-
(a) provision specifying, or enabling HMRC to specify, information which a person making a declaration of eligibility is required to provide to HMRC;
(b) provision specifying, or enabling HMRC to specify, the form and manner in which declarations of eligibility may be made;
(c) provision specifying the times when declarations of eligibility may be made;
(d) provision about the consequences of making a declaration of eligibility-
(i) after the beginning of the entitlement period for which it is made, or
(ii) at such other time as may be specified;
(e) provision for any consequences specified by virtue of paragraph (d) not to apply in specified circumstances or if specified conditions are met;
(f) provision specifying circumstances in which a person, or a person of a specified description, may make a declaration of eligibility on another person's behalf, including provision enabling HMRC to appoint a person for that purpose;
(g) provision treating things done, or omitted to be done, by a person who makes a declaration of eligibility on another person's behalf as having been done, or omitted, by that other person.
(7) In subsection (6) "specified" means specified in the regulations.
5 Entitlement periods
(1) The length of an entitlement period is 3 months.
This is subject to the following provision.
(2) Regulations may-
(a) amend subsection (1) so as to alter the length of an entitlement period, and
(b) in consequence of any provision made under paragraph (a), amend any reference in this Act to a period which begins on the day on which a declaration of eligibility is made and is the same length as an entitlement period.
(3) Regulations may make further provision about entitlement periods, including, in particular-
(a) provision for determining when entitlement periods are to begin or end, and
(b) provision enabling HMRC, in circumstances specified in the regulations, to vary the length of an entitlement period in particular cases.
(4) Provision made by virtue of subsection (3)(b) may not enable HMRC to vary the length of an entitlement period by more than a month.
To continue reading
Request your trial