Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to ensure that parents use their tax-free childcare accounts to pay for childcare; and what additional costs such checks will place on HM Revenue and Customs.
Parents' payments from their Tax-Free Childcare accounts will only go to registered childcare providers. HMRC will investigate in the exceptional circumstances where it suspects the payments were not used for childcare. The Childcare Payments Bill sets out HMRC's proposed compliance powers.
The administration costs of the scheme will be settled once the scheme's design has been finalised.