How do I use Tax-Free Childcare with 30 hours for extra hours?

Do I apply twice — once for 30 hours and once for Tax-Free Childcare?

No. GOV.UK — Apply for free childcare says that when you apply for Free Childcare for Working Parents, HMRC also checks Tax-Free Childcare. The same page says you set up one childcare account and, if eligible, use it for both. You only need to apply once.

The 11-digit code is what the nursery or childminder uses to claim the funded hours from the council. The account balance is separate: that is where you pay money in and the government adds a top-up to pay the provider for charges that are not funded hours.

GOV.UK’s Free Childcare for Working Parents overview: you cannot get both Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit childcare at the same time. If the household is on Universal Credit, stop here and read Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit rather than opening a Tax-Free Childcare account.

What can Tax-Free Childcare pay when we already have 30 funded hours?

Best Start in Life’s combining schemes page (updated 5 February 2026) lists Tax-Free Childcare, Universal Credit childcare, 30 hours, universal 15 hours and Early Learning for 2 year olds as offers that can sit together in the combinations the rules allow. The 15 and 30 hours FAQ is more specific: other support can help pay for childcare the entitlements do not cover — extra hours, a registered nanny, or certain extra services the provider charges.

• Hours above the funded 30 — a longer day, a fifth weekday, or holiday weeks the setting bills as private care.
• Extras the funded hours do not include — GOV.UK lists meals, nappies, additional hours and trips. Those charges must not be a condition of the funded place.
• A different approved provider — wraparound, holiday club or a nanny on the register, if that provider has signed up to Tax-Free Childcare.

Funded hours are meant to be free at the point of use. Paying them again through the Tax-Free Childcare account would be paying twice for the same sessions. The account is for the bill that remains after funding.

How do I pay the extra hours through the childcare account?

1. 1
   Confirm the provider is signed up Tax-Free Childcare only pays an approved provider who has joined the scheme. Ask before you pay money in. Funded-hours registration (Ofsted Early Years Register) and Tax-Free Childcare sign-up are not always the same paperwork.
2. 2
   Ask for a bill that separates funded hours from paid hours You need a figure for the part you are actually being charged: extra hours, meals if you have chosen to buy them, holiday weeks. The funded 30 should show as £0 session fees.
3. 3
   Pay 80% of that charged amount into the account GOV.UK’s worked example: a £250 bill, you pay £200 in, the government adds £50. For every £8 you pay in, the government tops up £2.
4. 4
   Pay the provider from the account The top-up is added at the same time as your payment, usually within one working day. Then send the combined balance to the setting.
5. 5
   Reconfirm every 3 months The same sign-in keeps both the working-parent code and Tax-Free Childcare live. Miss it and both can lapse.

What are the Tax-Free Childcare top-up limits?

A long day that only just exceeds 30 funded hours may sit well under the quarterly cap. A summer of holiday clubs can hit £500 in one quarter even when term-time extras are small. Unused top-up does not roll forward as extra room above the next quarter’s cap.

What if we are on Universal Credit instead of Tax-Free Childcare?

Working-parent hours and Universal Credit childcare can sit together. Best Start in Life’s FAQ says those on Universal Credit can still claim the working-parent entitlement if they meet that scheme’s rules, and can use Universal Credit childcare for additional hours outside the funded 30.

That is a different product from Tax-Free Childcare. Do not open both. The side-by-side maths lives on Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit, not on this page.

In shortOne apply. HMRC checks Tax-Free Childcare. Spend the account on the bill that remains after the funded 30 — extra hours and optional extras. If the household is on Universal Credit, use that childcare element for the same extras instead.