Anyone giving Childcare vouchers as a salary replacement?

[KevF]

Had a couple of ladies asking me if I will participate in the Government Childcare Voucher Scheme.

I have read some detail sent to me by a company called Allsave who supply childcare vouchers.

Anyone here actually offerig and giving this option.

If so how easy is it to do and implement?

Kev

[stumpage]

We do it and it's a win, win situation. Employee saves on the tax and the company saves in some NI payments.

[flyingjase]

We do as well - fairly easy to set up and administor for a small firm and a great benefit to those with kids

[Eric Mc]

stumpage said:

We do it and it's a win, win situation. Employee saves on the tax and the company saves in some NI payments.

Does the value of the vouchers end up being shown in the employee's P60?

Can the employee use the value of the vouchers as a bargaining point if applying for a salary increase or if they need proof of earnings for a loan application?

[northandy]

KevF said:

Had a couple of ladies asking me if I will participate in the Government Childcare Voucher Scheme.

I have read some detail sent to me by a company called Allsave who supply childcare vouchers.

Anyone here actually offerig and giving this option.

If so how easy is it to do and implement?

Kev

We've just opened a salary sacrifice account with Busy Bees (Full managed service)... Employee saves Tax/NI, we pay an admin fee to Busy Bees which is then offset by a larger NI saving. Employees can sacrifice any amount they like up to the maximum of £243 per month.

One quick call got the account open, and a little bit of work getting the procedures set up with payroll etc. very easy to do, much simpler than the Bike to Work Scheme we recently ran !

Edited by northandy on Friday 24th October 13:00

[Plotloss]

You can use childcare vouchers with private childcare arrangements now, so you can redeem them with your nanny if you're so staffed.

[northandy]

Eric Mc said:

stumpage said:

We do it and it's a win, win situation. Employee saves on the tax and the company saves in some NI payments.

Does the value of the vouchers end up being shown in the employee's P60?

Can the employee use the value of the vouchers as a bargaining point if applying for a salary increase or if they need proof of earnings for a loan application?

I assume not as the taxable pay will be lower by whatever amount has been sacrificed.

As for Loan Application our scheme will show their normal pay on the payslip with a deduction for the amount sacrificed seperately, so loan company/bank will still be able to see the employees gross pay before deduction.

[stumpage]

northandy said:

KevF said:

Had a couple of ladies asking me if I will participate in the Government Childcare Voucher Scheme.

I have read some detail sent to me by a company called Allsave who supply childcare vouchers.

Anyone here actually offerig and giving this option.

If so how easy is it to do and implement?

Kev

We've just opened a salary sacrifice account with Busy Bees (Full managed service)... Employee saves Tax/NI, we pay an admin fee to Busy Bees which is then offset by a larger NI saving. Employees can sacrifice any amount they like up to the maximum of £243 per month.

One quick call got the account open, and a little bit of work getting the procedures set up with payroll etc. very easy to do, much simpler than the Bike to Work Scheme we recently ran !

Edited by northandy on Friday 24th October 13:00

That's who I used. They are great and was easy to set up.

As for the question of Taxable pay. It does get deducted from your salary before tax. So really you have do deduct if applying for mortgages etc. But when ever I have done that and explain that £2916 goes on childcare vouchers it's never a problem.

[edc]

I have implemented a scheme and run it ourselves. The biggest pain is in the set-up/process and documentation.

[tigger1]

One thing to be aware of is that staff must still receive more than minimum wage as salary...they cannot (I believe) "sacrifice" so much that they get less than minimum wage for their age group.

My employer does it, and I'll definitely take them up on their offer when it's nursery time!

[KevF]

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I will be offering this but need some advise before going ahead.

As mentioned, I have details from a company called Allsave. They offer the vouchers at a cost of a 4.55% management fee.

Is this a industry standard to charging or is there a way of claiming the vouchers from a more official status such as the Benefits Office or similar.

Dont want to be lining someone elses pockets if the vouchers are available free from the Government.

I would have a few father's claimng for them as well, as I believe that a father can also claim for the vouchers so long as the wife isnt claiming elsewhere?

Do you have any checks in plave to ensure this isnt happening?

Sorry for the questions but need to be 100% sure before implementing these.

kev

[edc]

KevF said:

Thanks for all the replies.

I think I will be offering this but need some advise before going ahead.

As mentioned, I have details from a company called Allsave. They offer the vouchers at a cost of a 4.55% management fee.

Is this a industry standard to charging or is there a way of claiming the vouchers from a more official status such as the Benefits Office or similar.

Dont want to be lining someone elses pockets if the vouchers are available free from the Government.

I would have a few father's claimng for them as well, as I believe that a father can also claim for the vouchers so long as the wife isnt claiming elsewhere?

Do you have any checks in plave to ensure this isnt happening?

Sorry for the questions but need to be 100% sure before implementing these.

kev

You don't have to line anyone's pocket. You can isue and pay out on your own printed vouchers tu saving any 'management fee'. I simply used invoice paper.

A husband and wife can bith claim.

You can always negotiate the fees too.