The Childcare voucher scheme is available to all working parents in the UK which is organised through their employer.
The Government has announced that it has agreed to a six-month extension of the scheme, meaning that new entrants can join the scheme for further six months.
The scheme allows parents to save up to £933 a year on childcare and from 6 April 2018 was supposed to be closed to new members to make way for Tax-Free Childcare, another scheme that was launched last year.
Both schemes reduce the cost of childcare, but one may suit your circumstances better.
Difference between both the schemes:

• Tax-free Childcare offers savings per child per year

• Childcare vouchers offer savings per parent per year.

Under current arrangements, parents or guardians have the ability to either claim childcare tax credit or pay for childcare vouchers out of their salary before it’s taxed.
Under the voucher scheme, parents can take up to £55 each week from their salary before tax and National Insurance, or £243 a month, to spend on childcare no matter how many children they have, as long as the parent is a basic-rate taxpayer.
However, using tax-free childcare parents have 20 per cent of their childcare costs met by the Government each year, up to a limit of £2,000 a year per child, or £4,000 if a child is disabled.
This scheme is open to self-employed people, who are excluded from the childcare voucher arrangements.
Subject to eligibility, both parents (if they are together) must be working 16 hours a week and paid at least the national living wage of £7.50 an hour, if over 25, or £120 a week to receive tax-free childcare. This will increase to £7.83 an hour or £125.28 a week, from April this year as the national living wage rises.
For families within the basic-rate tax bracket who qualify for either scheme, anyone who spends less than £9,336 in total on childcare would likely be better off with vouchers. The same goes for those who pay the higher tax rate and spend less than £6,252 in total.
However, families with a larger number of children are more likely to benefit from tax-free childcare, as the system works on a per-child basis rather than per parent.
Anyone who is claiming tax credits or universal credit or if either parent earns more than £100,000 will not be eligible for tax-free childcare.
The two schemes cannot be used in conjunction with one another, but either can be used alongside the 15 or 30 hours of free childcare offered to children aged three and four.
Using the voucher scheme, not only do employees make savings, but even employers will make savings of up to £402 per employee against the employer NIC of 13.8 per cent.
If employees are unsure of which option is better for them they can visit the Government’s Childcare Choices at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk or contact us.