Advice for Providers

+ Q. How do I know if my setting qualifies for the subsidy scheme?

The subsidy can be offered by all registered childcare providers that are signed up to the TFC scheme and can register a child below primary school age. This includes nurseries, playgroups and childminders. It does not apply to unregistered or informal childcare arrangements.

+ Q. How to identify a Tax-Free Childcare payment

When a parent pays you using their childcare account, the transaction will appear on your bank statement as National Savings A. This entry should also contain the child's:

• Childcare reference number made up of 4 letters and 5 numbers. The letters are the first initial and the first 3 letters of the child's surname. For example, AJON12345.

• Tax-Free Childcare account number. This will be 13 digits long and start with 1100, and should contain the letters TFC. For example, TFC 1100012345678

If your bank displays payment information differently and you are unable to identify a parent's payment, you can submit a payment reconciliation form or call the childcare service helpline: 03001234097

+ Q. Is income from the NICSS taxable?

Yes

+ Q. What happens if a provider is off sick and unable to provide care but has already billed in advance?

A process will be in place for the provider to amend a claim if the anticipated level of chaldcare has not been provded. Where possible, we wil not require a refund to be made, but will make an amendment to subsequent claims from that provider.

+ Q. Can a provider still apply a discount if they are on holiday but still charge a reduced fee?

Yes. The scheme is aimed at reducing parental bills so pre established holiday payment commitments are elligibe within this scheme.

+ Q. Can we include the discount on to ad-hoc activities and services, or does this need to be invoiced separately to the parent?

The NICSS will provide a 15% subsidy on all childcare costs that are normally covered by the Tax Free Childcare Subsidy.

+ Q. One child receives a family discount, do I apply the 15% NICSS discount after the sibling discount is applied?

Please apply the 15% discount to the fee you normally charge the parents—that is, to the sum after the sibling discount is applied.

+ Q. I normally invoice families together on one invoice, can I still do this?

Yes, however for the children eligible for NICSS, you need to clearly state: Name of Child, Tax free Childcare Number, Amount prior to reduction, 15% reduction amount, New amount payable by parents.

+ Q. Are deposits eligible and applicable for NICSS?

No - A refundable deposit is not covered under the NICSS Scheme. A deposit line can appear on an invoice, but the subsidy cannot be applied to the deposit amount.

+ Q. Is the information around fees visible to parents. What if we decide to change our prices?

Fees will not be made visible to parents. Participating providers must inform Early Years of changed fees/rates.

+ Q. I have a child who is being deferred for primary one so is doing an extra year at nursery, will they be eligible for this scheme

Yes, if they have been officially deffered by the Education Authority. Early Years are required to confirm defferal status.

+ Q. A child’s Tax free Childcare expiry date has now passed, what should I do?

You are not required to take any action. Parents will be required to update their Expiry Date as part of a review process, which will be conducted by Early Years early in 2025.

+ Q. A child in my setting is no loner eligible for Tax Free Childcare, what should I do?

The parent is responsible for letting the childcare provider know if they are no longer eligible for Tax Free Childcare. If a parent has been in contact with you, you should contact the NICSS Team (nicssprovider@early-years.org) to let them know the child is no longer eligible, including the Child Application Number and TFC Number. The Child Application will then be closed and you will no longer have access to this on your system.

+ Q. A parent has informed me that they are digitally exempt and do not use the online Tax Free Childcare service, what should I do?

We are aware of these cases and have set up a process for these parents, in that we allocate them a TFC number which can be tracked on our system.

They will still need to register on the portal, but if you ask them to contact nicssparent@early-years.org, we will allocate them with a number so they can complete registration.

+ Q. We change our fees annually. Do we also need to notify you when parents reduce or change days at nursery?

Please update us if you change your rates only. We do not need to know if attendance schedules change.

+ Q. We run a number of groups on different sites. Will I have a different account for each site or will they be connected to the same one?

If you have separate childcare provider registrations for each site, then yes you will need a different account - each with a unique email address.

+ Q. When I try to login to the secure online portal, I am promoted for a verification code. When I enter the code that I receive by email it is not accepted.

Close your browser windows and click on the original login link again and this will prompt you for a 1 time verification code. Wait for a new code to come through now. Do not use any previously issued codes at this point. Ensure there are no spaces before or after the code. When you enter your verification code there is an option to "remember this device" so you do not have to repeat this process for 30 days.

+ Q. I need to change some of the information I added to the system and it now won't allow me to amend - what should I do?

Please make us aware of this by emailing nicssprovider@early-years.org and we will respond as soon as possible.

+ Q. I have added my personal email/mobile onto this registration form - is it only Early Years that can access this information?

Yes - this information will ONLY be used for the purposes of processing your registration.

+ Q. Can I set up an additional email address for administration of the scheme for our setting?

Not at present but we may be able to offer this in the future and will update this page accordingly.

+ Q. There are some claims on my portal showing as ‘Not Eligible’, what does this mean?

These claims are not yet submitted and require attention, this is usually because not all mandatory fields have been completed. You should log back into your account to review these claim records, make the necessary amendments and ‘Submit’.

+ Q. There is a claim on my portal that I do not need, as the child has since left my setting. How can I remove this?

Please get in touch with the NICSS Team (nicssprovider@early-years.org) or your allocated Grants Officer, to let them know which Claim / s you would like to have removed from your portal.