Care and support

Tax and benefits when you foster or adopt a child

Introduction

These pages are for people who are fostering, adopting or are intending to foster or adopt a child.

These pages look at:

• tax
• national insurance
• benefits

These pages do not cover the fostering or adoption allowances you could be paid for the young person/people you look after. Check with children, schools and families (CSF) or your fostering/adoption agency for further details of these.

There is a small section at the end which looks at residence orders, special guardianship, after-care support and other forms of cash help that CSF can provide.

Fostering

Some children are placed by CSF with family members or friends under what is known as ‘kinship care’ arrangements. Some of these fall within the definition of fostering, if the child(ren) are officially looked-after by CSF. If they do, then the next section is relevant. If the child isn’t looked-after, then the support that CSF provides may fall within the section at the end of these pages about residence orders etc.