Childcare / Nanny question

[jpdw]

HI All,

not 100% this should go in "accounting/legal" rather than "general" but hopefully I got it in the right place...

Like many, I have a small Ltd with me as main (sole) revenue earner.
My wife has just landed a permie job after being off for 4 years since our 2 kids were born.

Over the next 3-4 months we are going to be needing a full-day nanny;
Then from October (when the kids start full time school), a childminder for the 4-6 time.

I know that the My Ltd can offer ~£245/m of childcare costs to all its employees (ie. me)

But is there anything else that My Ltd can contribute? Specifically around the employing the nanny part -- it seems we (personnally) will have to become employers, run the nanny's payroll & do hmrc returns for PAYE & NIC. Aside from the admin, various companies offer to do this for us at a cost -- which gets me questioning whether any of this can be done via My Ltd which already has payroll, is an employer (of me & wife) and therefore already does PAYE & NIC returns.

I've put a call into my accounts but my usual contact is away for a week so want to see if anyone here has any experience/suggestions on this one....

[MarillionFan]

No.

Hth

MF

Plus the child care costs £245 are a derivative of a salary sacrafice, which you're probably not paying tax on.

[jpdw]

Plus the child care costs £245 are a derivative of a salary sacrafice, which you're probably not paying tax on.

Though this slightly off my main question, I thought it being salary sacrifice (as in reduction of salary) not mandatory - just the way most "large" companies do it... am sure I've read that in various places including CUK forums.

Back to the main thing though...

It does seem a tad of a duplication that the Ltd I & my wife jointly own runs a payroll yet there's no way we can use that facility and have to setup entirely separate -- even if the Ltd only contributed the allowed childcare amount and the employees paid the rest from their own (taxed) pockets... So instead I have to pay a 2nd bunch of accountants to run another payroll!

[jpdw]

Hm... oddly enough despite using the CUK forum search before posting the question, when I then did a google for any other sites on the subject I get a hit coming back to this thread on this very site!
... which seems to suggest that whilst there may be wheezes that can lead one to hope it's possible, Hector has already slammed that option closed (downfall seeming to be around the premesis needing to be non-residential -- and I guess sticking the kids & nanny in the garden should would probably break some other rules !!!)

It still seems stoopid that we have to form another relationship with HMRC... grumble grumble

[MarillionFan]

Hm... oddly enough despite using the CUK forum search before posting the question, when I then did a google for any other sites on the subject I get a hit coming back to this thread on this very site!
... which seems to suggest that whilst there may be wheezes that can lead one to hope it's possible, Hector has already slammed that option closed (downfall seeming to be around the premesis needing to be non-residential -- and I guess sticking the kids & nanny in the garden should would probably break some other rules !!!)

It still seems stoopid that we have to form another relationship with HMRC... grumble grumble

Otherwise what's to stop you adding your gardener, window cleaner, handy man and butler into your LTD.

[jpdw]

Otherwise what's to stop you adding your gardener, window cleaner, handy man and butler into your LTD.

erm... honesty?
good point. that said... if the view from the office was a more tidy garden I'm sure my business would be more productive...

I'll just have to console myself that this is only for about 10 weeks (after which the childminder fees for afterschool ought to be significantly lower). 12 months to scheme how to offload the kidlings to the grandparents on rotation for next summer....