Sign in to your childcare provider account for Tax-Free Childcare
Sign in and use your childcare provider account if you’ve signed up to receive Tax-Free Childcare payments from parents.
Sign in to your account
If you’re a childcare provider and have already signed up to Tax-Free Childcare, you can sign in and use your account. You’ll need your 11-digit user ID and password.
There’s a different way to sign in to your account if you’re a parent.
Receiving payments from parents
Parents can find your details through their childcare account by searching for either your:
- name
- address
- postcode
- regulator reference
If your details are held securely by your regulator, parents will need to search for you using both your regulator reference and postcode.
Once the parent makes a payment to you from their childcare account, it will take at least 3 working days to appear in your bank account.
Matching payments to a child
On your bank statement, each payment will include a unique child reference made up of:
- 4 letters – the first initial and the first 3 letters of the surname of the child
- 5 numbers, followed by ‘TFC’
For example, ‘AJON12345TFC’.
You’ll need to get this reference from the parent before they pay you.
Refunding payments
If you need to refund a payment back to a parent, you must pay the money:
- from the bank account that received the original payment
- back to the childcare account that the original payment came from
You must also include the parent’s unique 13-digit childcare account number beginning with ‘1100’. If you can’t get this information from the parent, contact the Childcare Service helpline.
Managing your account
Keeping your details up to date
You should keep your bank account details up to date in your childcare provider account, as this is where all payments from parents will go.
If you want to change your address, email address or main contact on your account, you must tell your regulator. Once the changes have been made, your childcare account will update automatically with the new details.
Letting someone else manage your account
When you’re signed into your childcare provider account you can set up a ‘delegate’ - someone else who has access to your account so that they can manage it for you. To give this person access, you’ll need their:
- name
- address
- email address
Service availability
HMRC services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.