4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Looney]

AAAAaaaarrrggggghhhh!

 

I am so confused! OH and I are looking into the childcare voucher scheme and salary sacrifice scheme at work and I just cannot get my head around which we can do, if we can do both, what the benefits are of one compared to the other....!

 

Bogwoppit is due to start nursery in the new year (which I am dreading) so we need to start getting these things organised but I just don't get it! It seems slightly more confusing as both OH and I work for the same employer.

 

Has anyone else any experience of this? None of the people in my team have young children and OH comes home with very confused messages from people on his team

 

Sorry for the garbled post! It's all made worse as I'm worrying about leaving Bogwoppit and going back to work (even though I know deep down he'll be fine and we have no other option)

[Paola]

Sorry but I have no advice on the voucher scheme etc. However DD1 had to go into childcare from the age of 12 weeks part time. She settled in very well and as she got older, would cry when I came to collect her because she did not want to leave and would literally hang onto the front door jamb (sp?) howling Nice to be wanted Try not to worry to much.

[lisa33]

Where I work the child care voucher scheme is a salary sacrifice scheme. The money for the vouchers is deducted from your salary before tax & NI. I don't really know how it works as I haven't used it (no children - no point. ) There are lots of rules around when you can start & stop various salary sacrifice schemes.

 

You should contact your payroll / benefits team and ask someone to explain it in full to you.

 

Sorry not much help there really.

[laurmurf]

These are excellent schemes and if you both work for the same employer you can both benefit and make a HUGE saving on childcare!

 

It works roughly like this:

You earn £10,000 a year and pay tax and NI (let's say this is 25% or £2500) this means you end up with £7500 in your pocket, then you pay £2000 a year for childcare, so you have £5500 left in your pocket.

 

with childcare vouchers you pay for the childcare from your salary first, so:

you earn £10k salary - minus £2000 for the same childcare, so £8000 that is then taxed and NI'd and when 25% comes off this for tax and NI (or £2000), you are left with £6000 in your pocket after paying for your childcare.

 

You get the idea although my figures are way off.

 

If you pay tax in the higher bracket (40%) then you save even more; and with both of you able to salary sacrifice then you both save.

 

There are some conditions: you can't sacrifice so much that you earn below the 'Lower Earnings Limit' and there is usually a maximum you are allowed to sacrifice in each scheme (but per person). You also want to check with your scheme administrator to see whether they've decided that your pension (if a final salary based scheme) is based on your 'real' salary before sacrifice or the one after sacrifice. Ask the same question as it is applied to any future maternity pay too.

 

By the way i don't work for any of these companies but I did introduce this scheme at my last employer's as well as the 'bikes to work' scheme that works in the same way and is equally brilliant!

[Looney]

Thanks guys I knew I could rely on Omleteers to help! AND I think it is becoming a bit clearer now! Now I'm just trying to work out which of the two schemes to go for (whichever one will save me the most money!)

 

I have just remembered that I know someone in another region that works with his wife (same employer as OH and I) so I'll ask him what they do

[BarbaraJ]

2 of the parents whose children i care for use 'care for' and i understand it as the parents pay, without paying tax on the payments, to care for, who then pay me. seems to have worked well for me and them so far.

[Shirl]

I thought the salary sacrifice and childcare vouchers were one and the same thing. You can both claim individually though so you get double the benefit if you need to.

 

I found moneysaving expert great for info about it when I needed to know.

 

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/health/childcare-vouchers

[chickenanne]

I agree with luaramurf... I would also say though, that you really need to speak to HR or payroll dept, as you can't be sure that what a colleague does is actually the best choice... neither can you be sure they're in the same situation as you financially (depending on how well you know them!)