child benifit query

poe.tuesday

Hello all

I have recently changed jobs and now earn over £60k I started this job in march this year

my previous job was £50k per year and my contract ended in dec last year so I was not earning from dec 12 to march 13

I have been to the hmr website and it asks me which year I am claiming for and gives me the option of 2012 to 2013 or 2013 to 2014 - I am not sure what I am supposed to do as if it is paying me this year for last years wages then I presume I am still entitled to it, but if its this year then I am not and I would need to cancel it

I have two children and my OH gets the child benefit as he is a stay at home dad

Icequeen99

poe.tuesday wrote: »

Hello all

I have recently changed jobs and now earn over £60k I started this job in march this year

my previous job was £50k per year and my contract ended in dec last year so I was not earning from dec 12 to march 13

I have been to the hmr website and it asks me which year I am claiming for and gives me the option of 2012 to 2013 or 2013 to 2014 - I am not sure what I am supposed to do as if it is paying me this year for last years wages then I presume I am still entitled to it, but if its this year then I am not and I would need to cancel it

I have two children and my OH gets the child benefit as he is a stay at home dad

So what is it you are trying to do? Does your OH want to stop receiving the child benefit payments? or does he want to get them and you pay the tax charge?

IQ

poe.tuesday

If he is entitled to them then I dont want to have them stopped but if he is not, then I want to stop them but I dont know when they work out the entitlement as it seems like they go by last years wages to calculate this years benefit and if this is the case, then he would be entitled to carry on claiming but I dont know if that is the way they work it out

Icequeen99

poe.tuesday wrote: »

If he is entitled to them then I dont want to have them stopped but if he is not, then I want to stop them but I dont know when they work out the entitlement as it seems like they go by last years wages to calculate this years benefit and if this is the case, then he would be entitled to carry on claiming but I dont know if that is the way they work it out

Sounds like you have been looking at Child tax credit, which is different to child benefit.

Child benefit is not means tested, they don't calculate it as such. However there is a new tax charge that you will have to pay if you keep on getting child benefit. The charge depends on your income for the tax year. You will have to be it via self-assessment.

Your partner is still entitled to the child benefit and it is important he claims it so he protects his national insurance contributions if you have children under twelve. But you can choose not to receive payments to save the hassle of the tax charge. The new tax charge started 7 January.

This is the page you need to look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefitcharge/

IQ

poe.tuesday

our children are over 12 and it is child benefit that I am enquiring about, what I dont get is when I go to the calculator it asks me which financial year - do I put 12 to 13 or 13 to 14?
If we are not entitled to it then I will just cancel it like you say, it will save the hassle of the charge, however, if its based on last years wages then it looks like he would still be entitled to it but this is where I am looking for confirmation, is this years child benefit worked out on my wages from 12 to 13 or for what I am earning now?

cheers

zagfles

It's based on the current year. Ie if you earn £60k this tax year then you'd have a tax charge which equals the child benefit.

However note that it's £60k "adjusted net income" which basically means gross (taxable) income minus certain deductions the most significant of which is pension contributions. So if your salary is £60k but you pay pension contributions your "ANI" would be under £60k, so you'd keep some child ben. But you would have do a tax return - but it's quite straighforwards if your circumstances are fairly simple (ie income from a job, maybe a little in interest/dividends etc).

If you can afford it you could consider making extra pension contribution eithervia a company scheme or a SIPP etc to reduce your ANI below £50k.

Have a search on this forum there've been loads on threads on this change.

& see http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0620.pdf

poe.tuesday

thanks for your help - it has sorted it all out for me now