Estimate the Tax-Free Childcare government top-up, parent contribution and net childcare cost after the published per-child caps.
Use this Tax-Free Childcare calculator to estimate the government top-up and parent contribution for monthly childcare costs. It models the top-up only; it is not an eligibility decision and does not model Universal Credit childcare costs or free childcare funded-hours entitlement.
Enter what childcare costs you. The top-up is capped per child, per quarter.
The government adds 20% of the bill, up to £500 a quarter for each child. That cap is reached at about £833 a month for one child; above it the top-up stops rising and the share you pay grows.
For every GBP 8 paid into a childcare account, the government adds GBP 2, subject to per-child caps.
| Quarterly childcare cost | £2,400 |
|---|---|
| Quarterly government top-up | £480 |
| Quarterly parent contribution | £1,920 |
| Annual childcare cost | £9,600 |
| Annual parent contribution | £7,680 |
| Standard child cap | £500 / quarter |
| Disabled child cap | £1,000 / quarter |
| Cap status | No cap reached in this estimate |
The top-up estimate is below the published per-child cap for this scenario.
| Tax/source year | 2026/27 |
|---|---|
| Region | England/Wales/Northern Ireland |
| Tax code basis | 1257L where the page uses PAYE defaults |
| Pension basis | No pension deduction unless this example says otherwise |
| Student loan basis | No student loan unless selected in this example |
| What is not decided here | PayBreakdown does not decide payroll correctness, lender approval, benefit entitlement or employer compliance, and does not give regulated financial, mortgage, debt, tax, payroll or legal advice. |
|---|
The calculator applies the Tax-Free Childcare top-up model to monthly childcare cost, child count and disabled-child count, then shows monthly, quarterly and annual planning figures.
This page estimates the top-up only. It does not decide eligibility, cannot replace GOV.UK services, and does not model funded-hours entitlement, Universal Credit childcare support, provider-specific fees or local authority rules.
Change any figure above and the result moves with it. A payslip can differ from any calculator because payroll works pay period by pay period, so a tax-code change, a bonus, arrears or a refund can land in one month and not the next. See how each deduction is worked out.
Use the estimator alongside family-finance and budget planning pages.
How Tax-Free Childcare compares with a childcare salary-sacrifice scheme.
It estimates the possible government top-up, parent contribution and net childcare cost after top-up from the monthly childcare cost, number of children and disabled-child count entered.
No. It is not an eligibility decision. Eligibility can depend on child age and circumstances, working status, income, partner income, immigration status and whether the childcare provider is approved.
No. Universal Credit childcare costs are not modelled here. Tax-Free Childcare also cannot necessarily be used at the same time as Universal Credit or childcare vouchers.
No. Free childcare and funded-hours entitlement are not modelled. Those rules can depend on child age, country, working status, term dates, provider availability and application deadlines.
The calculator flags a cap warning when the estimated top-up reaches the standard or disabled-child cap for the planning period.
No. Both addresses lead here, because they ask the same question: how much the government adds to what you pay in, and what the childcare costs you once that top-up and the published caps are applied.
Last updated 2026-08-27. Checked by Sean Elsmore. Rates last checked against GOV.UK on 2026-08-07. Estimates are for planning and should be checked against official records where the decision matters.