If you childmind from your own home, you can't easily split your gas bill or your sofa between "work" and "family". So HMRC gives childminders a bespoke shortcut: a set of agreed percentages for household costs, a flat wear-and-tear deduction, and permission to estimate food without keeping receipts.
This guide explains exactly how those percentages work, where the numbers come from, and how to apply them to a real tax return. It's written for self-employed childminders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who file their own Self Assessment or want to sanity-check what their accountant is claiming.
One big change to flag up front: from 6 April 2026, childminders who are inside Making Tax Digital for Income Tax can no longer use these percentages or the 10% wear-and-tear figure. We cover what replaces them lower down, so read to the end before you lock in your method.
What is the HMRC childminder expenses agreement?
The HMRC childminder expenses agreement is a long-standing set of practical rules, originally agreed between HMRC and the childminding body now known as PACEY, that lets you claim a share of your household costs without measuring rooms or itemising every bill. HMRC sets it out in its public guidance for childminders and in its internal manual at BIM52751.
You don't have to be a member of any association to use it. Any self-employed childminder caring for children in their own home can apply the agreed percentages, as long as you are not within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (more on that below).
The agreement covers three things: a percentage of your household running costs, a percentage of your household fixed costs, and a flat 10% deduction for wear and tear of your furniture and household items.
What are the running cost and fixed cost percentages?
The percentages depend on how many hours a week you normally care for children in your own home. At full-time hours, the maximum you can claim is 33% of running costs and 10% of fixed costs.
- Running costs are the everyday costs of using your home, mainly heating, lighting, electricity and gas. The maximum is 33% at 40 hours a week or more.
- Fixed costs are the costs you'd pay anyway, such as Council Tax, water rates, rent and mortgage interest. The maximum is 10% at 40 hours a week or more.
HMRC's internal manual sets out the scale like this:
| Hours of childminding per week | Running costs (heating, lighting, etc.) | Fixed costs (Council Tax, water, rent) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 9% | 3% |
| 15 | 13% | 4% |
| 20 | 17% | 5% |
| 25 | 21% | 7% |
| 30 | 25% | 8% |
| 35 | 29% | 9% |
| 40 (full time) | 33% | 10% |
These figures are for 2025/26 and apply to childminders who are not yet within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. They are flat percentages set by HMRC, not figures you index or uprate each year.
How do I work out the percentage for my hours?
If your hours don't land neatly on the table, HMRC's public guidance gives you the formulas to calculate your own percentage.
- Running costs: divide your weekly childminding hours by 40, then multiply by 33.
- Fixed costs: divide your weekly childminding hours by 4.
You then apply each percentage to your actual annual household bills.
Illustrative example
Sophie childminds 30 hours a week from her home. Her annual household bills are £1,800 for gas and electricity (running costs) and £2,400 for Council Tax, water and rent (fixed costs).
- Running costs percentage: 30 ÷ 40 × 33 = 24.75%, which HMRC's guidance lets you round, so call it 25% (matching the 30-hour row in the table).
- Fixed costs percentage: 30 ÷ 4 = 7.5%, rounded to 8% (again matching the table).
Her claim works out as:
- Running costs: £1,800 × 25% = £450
- Fixed costs: £2,400 × 8% = £192
- Total household cost claim: £642
That £642 is deducted from her childminding income as an allowable expense, before any wear-and-tear or food costs. This is a worked illustration, not a real client.
How does the 10% wear-and-tear deduction work?
On top of the household percentages, the agreement lets you deduct 10% of your total childminding income to cover the wear and tear of your furniture and household items. So if a toddler scuffs your flooring or wears out a sofa cushion, you're not expected to track that item by item.
It is 10% of income, not 10% of any asset value. If Sophie's childminding income for 2025/26 is £24,000, her wear-and-tear deduction is £24,000 × 10% = £2,400.
This deduction is part of the same agreement as the percentages, so the same April 2026 cut-off applies: it is only available while you are outside Making Tax Digital for Income Tax.
What about food, drink and small items?
This is the part childminders most often get wrong by over-recording. HMRC accepts reasonable estimates here.
- Food and drink you provide to the children you care for: you do not need to keep receipts. A reasonable estimate of the cost is acceptable.
- Individual items costing less than £10: you do not need to keep a receipt for these either.
You should still keep a sensible record of what you've estimated and why, because HMRC can ask you to justify the figure. "Reasonable" means an honest estimate of what you actually spend on the children, not a round number plucked from the air.
What other costs can a childminder claim?
The percentages and the food rule sit on top of the ordinary expenses any self-employed person can claim, provided the cost is wholly and exclusively for the business. For a childminder, the common ones are:
- Toys, books, equipment, arts and crafts materials and safety equipment.
- Outings and admission fees for the children.
- Public liability insurance.
- Membership fees or subscriptions to a childminding organisation.
- Ofsted registration fees and the enhanced DBS check.
- Paediatric first aid and other required training.
- The business proportion of your phone and internet.
- Car costs for childminding journeys. You can use HMRC's simplified mileage rates of 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the year and 25p a mile after that.
Start-up costs you pay before you officially open, such as your registration, DBS, first aid and initial equipment, are usually allowable too. They're treated as incurred on your first day of trading.
If you're setting up and want a clean system from day one, our guide for childminders and early-years carers walks through the whole picture, and our self-employed tax calculator gives you a quick sense of the tax and National Insurance on your profit.
What changes under Making Tax Digital from April 2026?
This is the headline change, and it's easy to miss because the old guidance still circulates widely online.
HMRC's manual at BIM52751 now states plainly that from April 2026 the childminder agreement does not apply to childminders within Making Tax Digital. In HMRC's words, childminders within MTD "should follow the rules for expenses and record-keeping that apply to all other businesses, and not use the alternative methods detailed below."
In practical terms, once you're inside MTD for Income Tax:
- You can no longer use the hours-based 33% / 10% percentages.
- You can no longer claim the flat 10% wear-and-tear deduction.
- Instead, you apportion your actual household costs using a reasonable method (for example, by rooms used and time spent childminding), and you claim wear and tear by the normal self-employed rules on the business proportion of buying and replacing items.
So who is "within MTD"? Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is being phased in by qualifying income, which for a childminder means your combined gross self-employment and property income:
| You're brought into MTD for Income Tax | If your qualifying income is over | Based on the tax year |
|---|---|---|
| From 6 April 2026 | £50,000 | 2024/25 |
| From 6 April 2027 | £30,000 | 2025/26 |
| From 6 April 2028 | £20,000 | 2026/27 |
If your income is below these levels, you stay outside MTD for now and can keep using the agreement percentages and the 10% wear-and-tear figure. If you're brought in, you switch to actual apportionment. Because this is a transitional change, it's worth checking your position each year against your latest figures rather than assuming last year's answer still holds.
The honest practitioner's view: for many childminders the actual-apportionment method can give a fair, sometimes larger, deduction, but it does mean keeping better records than the old shortcut required. That's the trade-off MTD brings.
Should I claim expenses or the £1,000 trading allowance?
Every self-employed person, childminders included, can use the £1,000 trading allowance instead of claiming actual expenses. It lets you deduct a flat £1,000 from your gross income rather than working out real costs.
It's the right choice only if your total allowable expenses for the year come to less than £1,000, which is rare for an active home-based childminder once you add the household percentages, wear and tear and food. For most childminders, claiming actual expenses under the agreement gives a bigger deduction. You can't use the trading allowance and claim expenses on the same income, so it's one or the other.
If your gross childminding income for the year is £1,000 or less, the allowance can also mean you don't need to register for Self Assessment at all.
Want to make sure you're claiming everything correctly under the current rules and ready for MTD? Talk to a Zmartly accountant and we'll set up your records the right way the first time.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need receipts for everything as a childminder?
No. Under the HMRC childminder agreement you do not need receipts for the food and drink you provide to the children, or for individual items costing less than £10. You should still keep a reasonable record of your estimates, and keep receipts for larger purchases.
What is the maximum household cost percentage a childminder can claim?
At full-time hours of 40 or more a week, the maximum is 33% of running costs (such as heating and lighting) and 10% of fixed costs (such as Council Tax, water and rent), for childminders not within Making Tax Digital.
Is the 10% wear-and-tear allowance still available?
It is available for 2025/26 if you are not within Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Once you're brought into MTD, from April 2026 onwards, you can no longer use the flat 10% deduction and must follow the normal self-employed rules for wear and tear instead.
Can a childminder claim mortgage interest?
You can include mortgage interest within your fixed costs and apply the agreed fixed-cost percentage to it, in the same way as Council Tax, rent and water rates. You apply the percentage that matches your weekly childminding hours.
When do childminders have to start using Making Tax Digital?
You're brought into MTD for Income Tax from 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income is over £50,000, from 6 April 2027 if it's over £30,000, and from 6 April 2028 if it's over £20,000, based on the relevant earlier tax year. Below these levels you stay outside MTD for now.
Does the trading allowance work for childminders?
Yes, but it's usually the worse option. The £1,000 trading allowance is only better than claiming real expenses if your total allowable costs are under £1,000 in the year, which is unusual for an active home-based childminder.
