The government's new plans for a tax-free childcare scheme for working parents, announced yesterday, have come under fire for being too complex.

The scheme, which is available to families where both parents work and each earns less than £150,000 a year, is being phased in from autumn 2015 alongside the existing Employer Supported Childcare (ECS) option. The government has described its new proposals as simpler and fairer.

Anita Monteith, technical manager from the ICAEW tax faculty, said: 'However, at this level of income these individuals will have already lost their child benefits and personal allowances, so why would they now be eligible to claim childcare vouchers - the policy appears confused, administratively cumbersome and inconsistent.'

ICAEW says that running the two childcare schemes in parallel is likely to add complexity for employers who have employees using both, and says the government should consider integrating the options.

As well as ECS, the government has announced plans to provide additional funding for childcare for those families claiming tax credits or moving to Universal Credit when that is introduced, also in 2015.

Deloitte tax director Patricia Mock said: 'The overall effect will be three separate systems of childcare support, which will make it difficult for families to decide which system should apply to them. It will be particularly difficult to compare ECS (which is provided on an individual basis) to the new scheme, which will be provided per family.'

ICAEW also raises concerns that the new scheme overlooks those who are self-employed who, while they can claim tax credits for childcare, do not have subsidised workplace nurseries, nor do they benefit from childcare voucher schemes.

Monteith said: 'We don't yet know much of the detail, but this scheme is clearly focussed on those who work, which we hope will include the self-employed. It is paramount that any changes made ensure the system is workable, offers stability and certainty, and does not disadvantage any groups of individuals.'>

ICAEW has repeated its call for a full review of the tax reliefs available for childcare costs, saying: 'Ever-changing policies from successive governments have created complexity as they never last for the length of time it takes for a child to grow up. A complete overhaul and re-think of childcare tax reliefs is needed to create a lasting solution.'