FREE Tax-Free Childcare webinar

A FREE Tax-Free Childcare webinar for local authority/council officers, partners, and family-facing professionals

15 March 2022 – 10:00-11:30

HMRC has asked Hempsall’s to deliver this 90-minute Zoom webinar. It will be useful for local authorities/councils and family-facing professionals across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

You are invited if you are a health visitor, social worker, housing officer, or work in children’s centres, early help, job centres, schools, or if you are someone else who works with families across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

The webinar is designed to share up-to-date information and to raise awareness of Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) and increase understanding of it.

Hempsall’s will be providing a useful overview of TFC and how it could better benefit children and families. They also want to help and equip attendees with ideas and tools that can motivate parents to sign up and use TFC to pay for childcare, out of school and holiday activities. Helping families and children and the provider in turn.

The webinar will consider:

Information, myth busting and growing awareness/understanding of TFC to support clear information sharing.
How we all can motivate interest and engagement in TFC.
Actions that can support parent and provider sign-up.

Agenda

10:00 Welcome and introduction
Aim and purpose
10:10 TFC: the story so far, evaluation and learning
10:20 Re-imagining TFC
Opportunities to take for families and providers
10:35 The importance of good information
10:45 Extending information through effective reach and engagement
11:00 Motivating behaviours – taking actions
Examples of impact
11:15 What can we all do?
Useful tools and information
11:25 Summary points and evaluation
11:30 Close

The webinar will be recorded, and slides and resources will be shared afterwards.

Find out more about the project here

Book your FREE place here

Tax avoidance spotlight on companies targeting NHS returnees

HMRC is aware that unscrupulous promoters of tax avoidance schemes are targeting workers returning to the National Health Service (NHS) to help respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

If you are returning to work for the NHS, HMRC is warning you to be very careful not to sign up to these schemes, which HMRC considers to be tax avoidance.

HMRC has added new Spotlight 54 to its list of schemes under investigation. This highlights promoters targeting workers returning to the NHS in response to Covid-19 through schemes using umbrella companies.

These schemes have certain features in common, usually involving two payments, the first being at a relatively low rate through the payroll, while the second is described as non-taxable in the form of a loan, annuity, shares, capital advance, or some form of credit facility.

HMRC advises potential employees to beware if asked to sign documents other than their contract of employment, involving loans or other advances.

Go to HMRC Guidance: Tax avoidance promoters targeting returning NHS workers (Spotlight 54)

Don’t miss out, claim Child Benefit by phone or post, HMRC tells new parents

Parents of newborns will still be able to claim Child Benefit despite the outbreak of coronavirus, HMRC has announced.

Even though General Register Offices remain closed for now, parents can still claim Child Benefit without having to register their child’s birth first to ensure that they do not miss out.

First-time parents will need to fill in Child Benefit Claim form CH2 found online and send it to the Child Benefit Office. If they haven’t registered the birth because of COVID–19, they should add a note with their claim to let HMRC know.

If parents already claim Child Benefit, they can complete the form or add their newborn’s details over the telephone on 0300 200 3100. You will need your National Insurance number or Child Benefit number.

Child Benefit claims can be backdated by up to three months.

This announcement is timely as child benefit payments increase from 6 April to a weekly rate of £21.05 for the first child and £13.95 for each additional child. Child Benefit is paid into your bank account, usually every 4 weeks.

Only one person can claim Child Benefit for a child. For couples with one partner not working or paying National Insurance contributions, making the claim in their name will help protect their State Pension.