This is a collaborative post.
Foster carers open their homes and hearts to children who aren’t able to live with their birth parents. This may be a short or long-term placement, depending on the child’s circumstances. Fostering is very different to adoption and I take my hat off to anyone who is a foster carer.
Our daughters had the same foster family, four years apart. Their love and care meant that our children were secure, attached and, most importantly, happy little souls when we met them. They had been prepared for our visits with photographs of us and books to show who we all were which their foster mum talked to them about. This meant that although both girls were babies when we met them, we were familiar faces which helped the introduction process and made transferring their attachment from the foster family to us, easier.
They will always be a part of our children’s extended family and have a special place in our hearts and I’m passionate about raising awareness about what they do and the types of support they need to make their jobs easier. This post looks at what foster carers do, their employment status and the benefits of using an accountant to support them with their accounting and tax requirements.
What do foster carers do?
Foster carers undergo an assessment process either by a local authority or a private fostering agency and once they’re approved, they are matched with a child or children who aren’t able to live with their birth parents. They then take over the day-to-day care of a child from their birth parents. They do not have parental responsibility for the child which remains with birth parents and sometimes the local authority if there is an interim care order in place.
However, carers are given delegated authority to make common-sense decisions about the children’s care which may include going to a friend’s house for a sleepover or signing a consent form for a school trip. The role of a foster carer includes taking children to see their birth family as part of contact arrangements, attending assessment sessions as well as the everyday things parents do such as school runs, doctors and dentist appointments, clothes shopping and making sure they’re cared for and safe until it’s decided where the child will live in the long term.
Are foster carers employed?
No, foster carers are classed as being self-employed. Once they have children placed with them, they get paid a fee to help with the cost of looking after them. The nature of fostering means that the children often need a high level of care and support due to the circumstances that mean their birth parents aren’t able to look after them, so some foster carers don’t have any other employment and their fostering allowance is their main source of income.
Others may work part-time in paid employment which can mean their tax obligations are more complicated.
Why foster carers should use an accountant
When you’re self-employed, there are a lot of demands on your time, without factoring in things like keeping on top of your accounts and making sure your records are accurate and up-to-date. Foster carers have to do all of that and make sure the children they’re caring for are safe, supported and attend the various meetings, assessments and contact sessions that go with being in the care of the local authority. This takes up a lot of time and headspace.
Using an accountant who specialises in supporting foster carers means they don’t have to worry about keeping on top of things like:
- paperwork such as receipts and expenses
- complying with the relevant rules and regulations
- making sure they’re paying the right level of tax
Specialist foster care accountants
The Growth Partnership is one of the few accountant firms that specialise in providing support to foster carers in England. Their team of friendly experts understand the needs of foster carers in terms of accounting support and advice and provides a first-class service that helps to take away the stress of keeping on top of tax requirements. They make sure the appropriate allowances and deductible expenses are utilised so that the right level of tax is paid.
The team at The Growth Partnership can make enquiries with HMRC on behalf of their foster carer clients so that their precious time isn’t taken up trying to speak to the right person to get an answer to a tax query, ensuring the deadlines for filing the tax return and making payments are met. They can also provide certified references for mortgage applications and other financial products.
So, if you’re a foster carer or agency, get in touch with the team at The Growth Partnership to find out about the accounting and tax support they provide.
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