Tax advice of the week: Use your childcare vouchers

If you're a higher-rate taxpayer, you should hurry up and take advantage of childcare vouchers before April 2011.

If you're a higher-rate taxpayer (HRT), hurry up and take advantage of childcare vouchers before April 2011, says Moneysavingexpert.com. It's a government scheme operated through employers that lets you pay for any registered nursery, playgroup, nanny or au pair from your pre-tax salary.

So if you're a basic-rate taxpayer (BRT) and give up £1,000 of salary (worth about £700 after tax and national insurance) in return for £1,000 of vouchers, you'll be about £300 better off. You can pay for up to £243 of childcare each month (£55/week) per parent, so two working parents could get £486 a month in vouchers.

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