The costs of bringing up children can quickly mount up, particularly if you are working long hours. Fortunately, most doctors are eligible for two key schemes – child benefits and tax-free childcare –which can make a significant contribution to your childcare expenses.
Tax-free childcare
To access tax-free childcare, you need to set up an online account via Tax-Free Childcare - GOV.UK.
For every £8 you pay into this account, the government will pay in £2 to use to pay your provider. You can get up to £500 every three months (or up to £2,000 annually) for each of your children to help with childcare expenses.
If a child is disabled, this increases to £1,000 every three months, or up to £4,000 annually.
If you qualify for both, you can receive 15 or 30 hours of free childcare in addition to tax-free childcare. Your childcare provider must be signed up to the scheme before you can pay them and benefit from tax-free childcare.
To be eligible for tax-free childcare, over the next three months you and your partner must each expect to earn at least £2,167, if you’re aged 23 or over
Certain types of income will not count towards the minimum amount you must earn to be eligible:
- dividends
- interest
- income from investing in property
- pension payments
If you or your partner have an expected ‘adjusted net income’ over £100,000 in the current tax year, you will not be eligible. You cannot get tax-free childcare at the same time as claiming working tax credit, child tax credit, universal credit or childcare vouchers.
Claim your free childcare hours
Working parents who qualify and have children under two years old can already begin receiving 15 hours of childcare assistance. Starting in September 2024, working parents who qualify and have children aged nine months to three years old will also receive 15 hours of childcare support. And from September 2025, working parents who qualify and have children between the ages of nine months and school age will receive 30 hours of daycare per week. If you use fewer hours per week than your total, you can use these hours over a maximum of 52 weeks out of the 38 weeks in the year.
Child benefit
You can claim child benefit for every child who is under 16 or under 20 in approved education/training.
Child benefit is paid every four weeks at the following rates:
- Eldest child: £25.60/week
- Other children: £16.95/week/child
If either your or your partner’s ‘adjusted net income’ is over £60,000 then you’ll have to pay back some of the benefit (called the high income benefit charge). You will not be entitled to any benefit once a one parent’s income exceeds £80,000. You will never have to repay more than you have received.
From April 2026, it is hoped the threshold will be based on total household income rather than an individual's income. You can claim child benefit (online, post or phone) 48 hours after you've registered a birth, or as soon as a child comes to live with you. If you claim at a later point, payments can be backdated for up to three months.
We recommend applying for child benefit even if one partner’s adjusted net income exceeds £80,000 as completing a claim form and opting out of payments for a child under 12 means you automatically get National Insurance (NI) credits, which count towards your state pension. These credits can help fill gaps in your NI record if you're not working or if you don't earn enough to pay NI contributions for a whole year. Doing so also means your child will automatically get an NI number when they turn 16. Otherwise they will have to apply for one.
What is adjusted net income? Adjusted net income is total taxable income minus certain tax reliefs, for example: trading losses (for the self-employed), Gift Aid charity donations, and pension contributions.