TFC30500 | Childcare accounts: more than one eligible person

Childcare Payments Act 2014, section 18 and section 24

Section 18 deals with situations where two or more persons are eligible to hold a childcare account for a child, but they cannot decide between themselves who should have the active account and, therefore, receive top-up payments. This could happen if one person already has an active childcare account and another person wishes to either open one, or to reactivate an existing inactive one, in respect of the same child.

For two persons to be able to reasonably say that they are eligible to apply for a childcare account for the same child they must either be living together in the same household or be separated and have shared custody of the child so that both can reasonably say they are responsible for it.

In such cases, HMRC will be able to decide which of them, if any, should be allowed to hold an account. If HMRC decide that a person who holds an active childcare account for a child should no longer have the active childcare account, they will be able to impose an account restriction order on that person’s childcare account under section 24, so that the other person can have an active childcare account.