Sir, - Politicians appear to be reluctant to provide tax relief for childcare in case it would appear that single-income families would be subsidising the childcare for double-income families. As a working mother and middle income professional earning roughly the same as my husband, I would like to point out that we pay over three times the tax which we would pay if only one of us worked, in addition to childcare costs. Even with full tax relief on childcare costs of £5,000 per year we would still be paying well over double the tax which we would pay if only one of us worked.
We are not looking for single-income families to subsidise our childcare but simply for some relief in the heavy subsidy we are providing at present for those families where one partner chooses to stay at home. - Yours, etc.,
Katrina McDaniel, Teeson, Sligo.