Childcare vouchers are part of a little known Government scheme, which can save many parents with kids aged up to 15, over £1,000 a year on childcare. It needs to be offered via employers, but many large and small companies take part.

The key is it enables you to pay for childcare out of your PRE-TAX income. While this doesn’t sound much, the benefit is huge. Most employers work it something like this:

For every £1,000 earned after tax & NI most people take home £700ish. Swap this for the same amount of vouchers and you’re £300 better off per £1,000.

In fact BOTH parents are allowed to get a maximum of £243 per month worth of vouchers, and the gains are even bigger if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, meaning some families will gain £1,000s from this over a year.

It is worth noting for those on lower incomes that swapping salary for vouchers can impact your benefit entitlement, but the Government’s HMRC calculator can help you work out whether you’ll gain overall or not. For more info, plus how to go about getting the vouchers, read Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis' Childcare Vouchers guide.