About MayTally

Who we are

MayTally is an independent information site for UK parents. It is not GOV.UK, HMRC, DWP, the NHS or the Office for Product Safety and Standards. It is not a claims-management firm, and it is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

The calculator turns a short picture of your family into a list of benefits and childcare schemes that may apply, with a link to the official page for each one. The safety checker looks up second-hand kit against official recall records. Both are information and guidance. Neither is a decision, a guarantee of payment, or a safety all-clear.

MayTally is operated by RETRETO NEXT LIMITED, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 15166864, VAT GB 493 7070 67). Registered office: Office 8929, 182-184 High Street North, East Ham, London, United Kingdom, E6 2JA. For a data-protection request write to [email protected]. We have not published an ICO registration number.

We write in British English and we date the tax year we are using. Tax year 2026-27 runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.

What this site is not

• Not regulated financial, tax or benefits advice — and not a promise you will receive £X.
• Not medical advice, and not a clinical judgement about sleep, feeding or product use.
• Not a government service. Applications still happen on GOV.UK or the official scheme site.
• Not a claim that an item is “safe” because we did not find a recall.

Editorial process

Every cash figure and threshold on MayTally is supposed to come from a published official page — usually GOV.UK or NHS Healthy Start — and to live in a versioned tax-year file. Each rate records a source URL, the date we last opened that page, and a flag if a human still needs to confirm it.

How a figure reaches the page

When we have not finished the check

If a rate is still flagged as needing verification, we must not pretend it is settled. The calculator should send you to the official page. A missing or stale figure is a reason to use GOV.UK, not a reason for us to invent a replacement.

How we write about product safety

Safety copy must follow official records: “Official records show a recall for this brand, model or batch,” with the source. We do not write “we think this is unsafe” or give medical advice about using an item. A search that finds nothing is not an all-clear.

When we expect to update

Rates usually move at the start of a tax year (6 April), and sometimes after a Budget or Spring Statement. Free childcare hours also follow term dates. We should reopen the official page after those events. Between updates, treat the checked-on date as part of the answer.

Corrections

If you spot a figure that does not match the official page, tell us. We would rather correct a date and a number than defend a page that has drifted. Use the corrections form when it is live.

Send a correction when the form is live.

How to check a figure yourself

You should be able to repeat our homework in a few minutes. If you cannot, the page is not finished — use the official site.

A short method

1. Find the figure on MayTally and note the tax year printed near it (for this site, 2026-27 unless we say otherwise).
2. Open the official source next to the figure. If there is no source, stop and use GOV.UK.
3. On the official page, check you are reading current guidance, not an archived copy, and that it is for the right nation.
4. Match four things: the amount, the period (week, month, quarter or year), who it applies to, and any income or hours cap.
5. If the official page and MayTally disagree, use the official page. Then send us a correction so we can fix our file.

Worked example — Child Benefit

Suppose the calculator shows a Child Benefit line. Open the Child Benefit rates page on GOV.UK. Confirm the weekly rate for the eldest or only child, and the rate for each other child, for tax year 2026-27. If your income may be high enough to repay some or all of it, also open the High Income Child Benefit Charge page and read the threshold. Our tax-year file stores those URLs and the date we last opened them. We do not restate the pounds here, because a number without a live official page is just a claim.

Schemes that do not stack

Some help cannot be taken together. Tax-Free Childcare and the Universal Credit childcare element are treated as mutually exclusive on the official pages. Free hours and Tax-Free Childcare can sit together in some cases; free hours and Universal Credit childcare follow different rules. Read both official pages before you choose. We must not invent a third “blended” rate.

Free childcare hours

England’s working-parent hours follow term dates. A child’s date of birth decides which term the hours start. When you check a figure, also check the age band and the term, not only the headline “30 hours”.

Recalls and second-hand kit

For a second-hand item, search the official product recalls and alerts list by brand, model and batch. Type what is on the nameplate. A listing photo is not a model name. Finding no record is not the same as “this item is safe”.

Official pages we expect you to open

If this list and the live official page disagree, use the official page. MayTally must not invent a rate to fill a gap.