Eequ sends your HMRC Tax-Free Childcare payments straight to your bank, for free

Yes. Eequ connects to HMRC’s official Tax-Free Childcare API as an external payment provider, so parents pay from their childcare account at the moment they book. The payment is linked to the booking automatically, and the money reaches your bank account within 3 working days.

Without this, clubs confirm the booking in one place and then check their bank statement to see whether each parent has transferred the money. Parents often pay late or pay a different amount from the booking, and someone has to match it all up by hand. Eequ removes that step for you and for parents, who no longer need to log in to GOV.UK separately after booking.

Tax-Free Childcare is a UK government scheme that helps working parents pay for approved childcare. Parents open an online childcare account on GOV.UK, and for every £8 they pay in, the government adds £2.

Families can receive up to £500 every three months (£2,000 a year) for each child, or up to £1,000 every three months (£4,000 a year) for a disabled child. Parents then use the account to pay a registered childcare provider directly. HMRC figures show families using the scheme save an average of almost £100 a month.

To be eligible, each parent must expect to earn at least the National Minimum or Living Wage for 16 hours a week on average, and no more than £100,000 a year. The scheme is available across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and parents reconfirm their eligibility every three months.

Yes. Tax-Free Childcare covers approved childcare for children aged 11 or under, and 16 or under for a disabled child. This includes breakfast clubs, after-school clubs, holiday clubs and play schemes.

HMRC reports that use of the scheme for children aged eight and over grew by more than 20% compared with the previous year.

Yes. Tax-Free Childcare can be used alongside the government-funded childcare hours, subject to eligibility. It can pay for any extra hours or costs that the funded hours do not cover. The Best Start in Life parent hub explains how the offers combine.

No. A parent has to choose one or the other, and opening a Tax-Free Childcare account means leaving their employer’s voucher scheme.

Childcare vouchers closed to new entrants on 4 October 2018, so only parents who joined before then still have the option. The Universal Credit childcare element cannot be combined with Tax-Free Childcare either.

Providers are different: accepting Tax-Free Childcare does not stop you accepting childcare vouchers, and Eequ supports both.

You need to be registered or approved by the regulator for your nation: Ofsted or a childminder agency in England, the Care Inspectorate in Scotland, Care Inspectorate Wales in Wales, and your local Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland.

If your club is exempt from compulsory registration, joining the voluntary part of the Childcare Register is the route that qualifies you.

Once you are registered with your regulator, you sign up to Tax-Free Childcare on GOV.UK. You will need your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), or your National Insurance number if you do not have one, and the bank account you want payments paid into. Almost 75,000 providers are now signed up to receive Tax-Free Childcare payments.

After signing up, parents can find you in their childcare account and pay you. You then add your Tax-Free Childcare details to Eequ so parents can pay you at checkout. Our Customer Success team can walk you through this.

Your regulator reference is the registration number your regulator gave you, such as your Ofsted URN. It appears on your registration certificate and in your Tax-Free Childcare provider account on GOV.UK.

Use the business postcode registered on your Tax-Free Childcare provider account. Both details must match HMRC’s records exactly. If they do not, HMRC cannot route a parent’s payment to you and it will be declined.

Yes. You can manage multiple childcare settings for different venues on Eequ, each with its own Tax-Free Childcare details.

When a parent books, the payment goes to the setting linked to that activity, so money for each venue reaches the right Tax-Free Childcare account without any extra work from you.

If you run, or plan to run, breakfast, after-school or holiday childcare for working families, it is worth it. Many parents budget for childcare through their Tax-Free Childcare account, so accepting it makes your club an easy choice for them, and the government’s 20% top-up makes your sessions better value.

It is especially important if you want to offer wraparound care in schools, where many working parents expect to pay this way. Our guide to setting up wraparound childcare explains the wider steps. With Eequ, taking Tax-Free Childcare doesn’t add admin, because payments are matched to bookings for you.

Yes. Parents book on Eequ as normal and choose Tax-Free Childcare as their payment method. The first time, they connect their HMRC childcare account to Eequ. After that, they pay from their Tax-Free Childcare balance in the same checkout, with no need to log in to GOV.UK separately.

The payment is sent to the provider through HMRC’s official Tax-Free Childcare API and recorded against the booking automatically.

Yes. If a parent’s Tax-Free Childcare balance does not cover the full booking, they can pay part with Tax-Free Childcare and the rest by card in the same checkout. Both payments are recorded against the same booking.

Parents need their Tax-Free Childcare sign-in details for GOV.UK and their child’s Tax-Free Childcare reference number. The reference is made up of 4 letters and 5 numbers, and they can find it in their childcare account. Eequ may also ask for the child’s date of birth so HMRC can match the right child.

Parents with more than one child can link each of them to the same Eequ account.

Yes. Parents sign in on HMRC’s own secure service, not on Eequ, and give permission for Eequ to make payments from their childcare account. Eequ never sees or stores their HMRC password.

Eequ uses HMRC’s official Tax-Free Childcare API. To get access, payment providers must pass HMRC’s checks, complete a supplier assurance questionnaire and sign a data sharing agreement with HMRC.

Every 18 months. HMRC asks parents to renew the permission they gave Eequ, and Eequ reminds them when it is due. Reconnecting takes a minute and uses the same sign-in details.

This is separate from reconfirming Tax-Free Childcare eligibility, which HMRC asks every parent to do every three months on GOV.UK.

You don’t need to. Eequ automatically matches each Tax-Free Childcare payment to the correct booking and updates its payment status, so you no longer need to check your bank statement or match childcare references to bookings by hand.

Childcare payments are tracked alongside your other bookings rather than in separate spreadsheets, with a clear audit trail for every payment.

Within 3 working days, and often in as little as 24 hours, depending on your bank. HMRC pays Tax-Free Childcare directly into the bank account registered on your Tax-Free Childcare provider account.

Tax-Free Childcare payments are handled separately from card payments. Card payments are processed by Stripe and paid out according to the preferences on your Eequ payouts page.

Each Tax-Free Childcare payment shows on your bank statement with the child’s unique reference, ending in “TFC”. Eequ records the payment status against its booking, so you can see who has paid without checking your bank.

The place stays reserved and you decide what happens next. Failed payments are rare, but if HMRC declines one, Eequ emails you and the parent and clearly labels the booking as unpaid. If a parent books for two children and only one payment fails, each child is labelled separately.

The most common reasons are:

• the provider has entered the wrong setting details on Eequ
• the parent has not added you as a provider in their childcare account
• HMRC technical failure

You can then approve or decline the place. If you want to honour the booking, the parent can pay you directly from their childcare account on GOV.UK, using the step-by-step instructions Eequ gives them, and then confirm on Eequ that they have paid. The payment is recorded against the booking, so nothing goes missing.

HMRC rules mean a Tax-Free Childcare payment must be refunded to the parent’s childcare account, not to their bank account or card. This keeps the government top-up in the scheme.

You make the refund by bank transfer from your business account to the Tax Free Childcare account (account number 10027165), using the parent’s 13-digit childcare account number as the reference. HMRC’s refund guidance explains the steps. HMRC’s API does not process refunds, so this step happens outside Eequ.

If a booking was paid partly by card, the card portion is refunded through Eequ as normal. A useful alternative can be a credit note, which you can quickly create through Eequ.

No. You can process Tax-Free Childcare and legacy childcare voucher bookings through Eequ at no additional cost. There is no monthly subscription, no contract to tie you in and no setup fee.

Eequ helps providers collect, track and reconcile childcare payments alongside their normal bookings, making it particularly economical for wraparound childcare, breakfast clubs, after-school clubs and holiday childcare providers.

No. Eequ charges no transaction fee on the Tax-Free Childcare part of a payment, and HMRC does not charge providers to receive Tax-Free Childcare. You receive the full amount the parent pays.

If a parent pays part of a booking by card, Eequ’s standard 7% booking fee applies to the card portion only. That fee includes all Stripe payment processing costs and VAT.

Yes. Accepting legacy childcare vouchers is optional, and you can choose which voucher schemes you accept. When a parent pays by voucher, Eequ shows them your setting name and details and links them to their voucher scheme’s payment page. It sends automated reminders to complete the payment until they have confirmed on Eequ.

Because Tax-Free Childcare payments are matched to bookings automatically, we recommend encouraging parents to switch where they can. It gives you a full audit trail with no chasing.

Eequ also takes card payments and offers an integrated bank transfer option for schools, charities and organisations that cannot easily pay by card. For larger bookings, such as a full holiday of childcare, families can pay in instalments while their place remains reserved.

All of these are tracked in one place, so you are not reconciling different systems.