Calculate Childminding Allowable Expenses (Household)
Before you calculate your profit (the money you have to pay tax on), you need to deduct your business expenses. Most expenses are simple to deduct, things you buy specifically for the children to use such as toys, childcare equipment and food are all allowable expenses. However some general household expenses such as water and electricity are more difficult to calculate because you use part of them for personal use as well as for your business.
To make claiming expenses easier, we’ve make a tool to do the calculations for you. Just enter your bill amount and the hours you work and it will calculate the amount that you can claim as an expense:
How Does it Calculate Expenses?
The tool uses the proportions set out in an agreement between the National Childminding Association and the HMRC, which states that childminders can deduct a set portion of their household expenses according to how many hours they work. This agreement covers heating, lighting, water, council tax and rent.
This table shows the portion of your bill you can claim as expenses if you work full time (40+ hours). If you are working part time (under 40 hours per week) then you can claim a proportion of what you would claim if you were working full time.
| Expense | Percentage Allowed to Claim |
| Heating and Lighting | 33% |
| Water Rates | 10% |
| Council Tax | 10% |
| Rent | 10% |
Calculating Expenses when Working Full Time
If you work 40 or more hours per week then to work out how much you may claim as expenses, simply divide each bill by one hundred and multiply by the percentage you are allowed to claim in the table above.
Calculating Expenses when Working Part Time
If you work part time you may only claim a proportionate amount to a childminder working full time (divide the bill by one hundred and multiply the percentage you can claim). Next, divide the answer by 40 (the number of hours for a full-time childminder) and hen multiply the answer by the number of hours you work to get the total.
The number of hours you work is the hours of the day you are working, e.g. 9am to 5pm is eight hours, not the total number of hours for each individual child.
Other Ways to Calculate Expenses
You don’t have to use the set proportions when calculating the childminding business expenses for your household bills. You can also work out your own calculations based on the proportion of your house you use for childminding and the number of hours you use them for. If you use a large portion of your house for childminding this may work out higher than the default percentages.
The calculator looks really easy to use and will be a useful tool for new childminders – however, does the Total Household bill refer to the annual bill or the bills as you recieve them, ie every month or 3 months? Also is the amount claimable an annual amount or a monthly/quarterly amount?
Hi Sharon, it calculates the portion of the bill that you enter that you can claim. So if you put in your weekly bill it will tell you the amount of that bill you can claim (the amount you can claim per week), likewise if you put in your annual bill it will tell you how much you can claim in total for the year. If you have an annual bill, you could then divide the total expenses you can claim by 52 (weeks per year) if you wanted to enter your expenses as a weekly amount.
hi can you answer a question for me? if you buy 200 pounds worth of education toys, what is per cent comes off for tax can you take off 200 pounds before you pay yourself? All my children have grown up so we would not gain anything from these toys.
Hi Kath, I believe the full amount of educational toys are tax deductible as expenses so you can deduct the full cost from you income before working out the amount you need to pay tax on. If you’re unsure your local tax office can give you advice on specific situations.
Hello i was just reading your calculator which is about to make my life much easier thank you.but I have a mortgage not rent can I still claim as the rent?
Hi Tasha, it gets a bit complicated when it comes to mortgages, as there is no clear advise. It’s possible you might be able to claim a portion of the interest (not the full payment on a repayment mortgage) in proportion to the number of rooms you use for childminding and the amount you use them. If you speak to your local tax office they can give you expert advice.
hi tamsin,i have found your calculator very useful as i am just starting out and trying to work out tax,income,fees etc is very scary…all my bills are in my parents name as i rent a house off them,do my bills have to be in my name for me to claim on them? x
Hi there. This is a great calculator and I’ve just checked what I’ve taken an hour to work out in a minute! thankyou! Just a quick question though…I know you can claim for heating and lighting but how do you work this out when my electric and gas bill is obviously for cooking and hot water etc as well. Is it just the amount of the bill or a percentage of it that you then take 10% of?
One of the childminders I work with only works 3 days a week from her own home, but her daughter (also a childminder) works out of her mothers home for 5 days a week. Is it possible for the mother to claim for 5 days a week house hold expenses (the daughter does not claim for these in her tax return). The mother does not chanrge the daugther rent.
Also the mother owns her home outright (no mortgage) can she claim household wear and tear as she does not pay rent etc..
One of the childminders I work with only works 3 days a week from her own home, but her daughter (also a childminder) works out of her mothers home for 5 days a week. Is it possible for the mother to claim for 5 days a week house hold expenses (the daughter does not claim for these in her tax return). The mother does not chanrge the daugther rent.
Also the mother owns her home outright (no mortgage) can she claim household wear and tear as she does not pay rent etc..
Many thanks