If you childmind from home, the 10% wear and tear allowance has probably saved you a fair bit of admin over the years. You claim a flat 10% of your childminding income to cover the wear on your sofa, carpets, furniture and household bits, with no receipts to chase.
So when Making Tax Digital for Income Tax (MTD for Income Tax) starts landing, the obvious worry is simple. Have you just lost it?
The short answer is yes, but only once you are actually inside MTD. Until then, nothing changes. This guide explains exactly who keeps the 10% allowance, who loses it and from when, and what you claim instead so you are not left worse off. It is for self-employed childminders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland filing a Self Assessment return.
Is the childminder wear and tear allowance gone under MTD?
The 10% wear and tear allowance is not abolished, but childminders who are inside MTD for Income Tax can no longer use it. HMRC's guidance, updated on 18 March 2026, confirms the bespoke childminder methods do not apply to childminders within MTD, who must follow the normal business expense rules instead.
In plain terms: if you are not yet in MTD, you can still claim it. Once you are mandated into MTD, you switch to claiming your actual costs.
What is the 10% wear and tear allowance?
It is a long-standing simplification in HMRC's agreement for childminders. Instead of working out the real cost of replacing your furniture and household items, you deduct a flat 10% of your total childminding income to cover the wear and tear on them.
HMRC's Business Income Manual puts it plainly: "A deduction of 10% of total childminding income may be made to cover the wear and tear of furniture and household items."
There is one trade-off. If you claim the 10%, you cannot also claim relief for the cost of replacing those household items. The 10% is meant to cover both.
It sits alongside the other childminder simplifications: the hours-based percentages for running and fixed home costs, and being able to use reasonable estimates for the children's food and drink without keeping receipts.
Who actually moves into MTD, and when?
This is the part that matters most, because for a lot of childminders the answer is "not for a while".
MTD for Income Tax is being phased in by qualifying income. Qualifying income means your combined gross self-employment and property income, before expenses. For most childminders that is simply your gross childminding takings.
| Your qualifying income is over | Based on tax year | You must use MTD from |
|---|---|---|
| £50,000 | 2024/25 | 6 April 2026 |
| £30,000 | 2025/26 | 6 April 2027 |
| £20,000 | 2026/27 | 6 April 2028 |
Source: gov.uk guidance on when to sign up for MTD for Income Tax.
So a childminder whose gross income is, say, £22,000 a year does not enter MTD until 6 April 2028 at the earliest. Until your start date arrives, you keep using the 10% wear and tear allowance and the other bespoke methods exactly as before.
If your gross income stays below £20,000, you are not currently brought into MTD at all, and the existing methods continue to apply to you.
What do you claim instead once you are in MTD?
You do not lose the tax relief. You change how you work it out.
Once inside MTD, you claim the actual cost of running your childminding business, apportioned for business use, in the same way as any other self-employed person. HMRC's guidance confirms you can still claim tax relief on all your genuine business expenses if you use MTD for Income Tax.
For wear and tear specifically, that means claiming the actual cost of replacing furniture and household items used in your childminding, apportioned for the business share of use, rather than a flat 10% of income. HMRC's manual directs MTD childminders to use the normal principles rather than the fixed 10% deduction.
In practice the mistake we see most often is childminders assuming MTD means more tax. It does not. It means more record-keeping. Whether you end up better or worse off depends on your actual costs versus the flat 10%, which is exactly why keeping clean records matters from day one.
What about the hours-based percentages and food costs?
The same rule applies to all of the bespoke childminder methods, not just wear and tear. They are available outside MTD and unavailable inside it.
Outside MTD, you can use the hours-based percentages for your home running and fixed costs (heating, lighting, water, council tax, rent or mortgage interest and so on), based on how many hours a week you childmind.
| Hours childminding per week | Running costs | Fixed costs |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 9% | 3% |
| 15 | 13% | 4% |
| 20 | 17% | 5% |
| 25 | 21% | 7% |
| 30 | 25% | 8% |
| 35 | 29% | 9% |
| 40 (full time) | 33% | 10% |
Source: HMRC BIM52751.
Outside MTD you can also use reasonable estimates for the children's food and drink without keeping receipts, and you do not need receipts for items costing less than £10 (though you do if several small items bought at once total £10 or more).
Inside MTD, all of these are replaced by actual costs apportioned for business use. The percentages and the no-receipts food rule no longer apply to you.
Illustrative example: before and after MTD
Illustrative example. Priya is a full-time childminder. Her gross childminding income for 2025/26 is £28,000 and she works 40 hours a week. She is not yet in MTD, so she uses the bespoke methods on her 2025/26 return.
- Wear and tear: 10% of £28,000 = £2,800
- Running costs: 33% of her household running costs
- Fixed costs: 10% of her household fixed costs
- Food and drink: a reasonable estimate, no receipts needed
Her £28,000 is below the £30,000 threshold for the 2025/26 tax year, so she is not mandated into MTD from April 2027. On current rules she would only enter MTD if a later year's qualifying income crossed one of the thresholds.
From the tax year she does enter MTD, Priya can no longer claim the £2,800 flat wear and tear figure. Instead she claims the actual cost of replacing the furniture and household items used in her childminding, apportioned for business use, plus her actual apportioned home costs and her actual recorded food costs. The relief is still there. It is just based on what she really spent and recorded.
This is illustrative only. Your own position depends on your real income and costs.
What should childminders do now?
A few practical steps, in order of priority:
- Find your MTD start date. Check your gross childminding income against the thresholds above. Many childminders will not be mandated until April 2027 or April 2028, if at all.
- Keep claiming the 10% while you can. If you are not yet in MTD, the wear and tear allowance and the other bespoke methods are still valid. Use them.
- Tighten up your records before your start date. Once in MTD you need actual figures, so start keeping receipts for replacement furniture, equipment and the children's food now, so the switch is painless.
- Decide between expenses and the trading allowance. If your gross income is very low, the £1,000 trading allowance might beat claiming expenses. You cannot do both on the same income. Our childminder trading allowance decision guide walks through it.
Want a straight answer on your MTD start date and the most tax-efficient way to claim once you are in it? Talk to a Zmartly accountant about your childminding business, or work your numbers through our self-employed tax calculator.
FAQs
Is the childminder 10% wear and tear allowance being abolished?
No. It is not abolished. It remains available to childminders who are outside Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. Childminders who are inside MTD cannot use it and claim their actual costs instead.
When do I lose the wear and tear allowance as a childminder?
From the tax year you are mandated into MTD for Income Tax. That is 6 April 2026 if your qualifying income for 2024/25 was over £50,000, 6 April 2027 if your 2025/26 income was over £30,000, and 6 April 2028 if your 2026/27 income was over £20,000.
What do I claim instead of the 10% under MTD?
You claim the actual cost of replacing the furniture and household items used in your childminding, apportioned for the business share of use, following the normal business expense rules that apply to all self-employed people.
Do the hours-based home cost percentages also disappear under MTD?
Yes. The running and fixed cost percentages, the 10% wear and tear, and the no-receipts food rule are all bespoke childminder methods. They apply outside MTD and are replaced by actual apportioned costs once you are inside MTD.
Will I pay more tax once I move to actual expenses?
Not necessarily. MTD changes how you record and calculate your costs, not the rate of tax. Whether actual costs beat the flat 10% depends entirely on what you actually spend, which is why good records matter.
Can I use the £1,000 trading allowance instead?
If your gross childminding income is low, you can claim the £1,000 trading allowance rather than deducting expenses, but you cannot do both on the same income. For most working childminders, claiming expenses gives a bigger deduction.
