Opting out of child benefit

missscotia

Hi,

My partner has recently been promoted at work and now earns more than £60k, so I now want to opt out of the child benefit payments. My question is, will i receive the 2 weeks child benefit between my last payment and the date i opted out?

Thanks in advance

copperclock

Up to you, but have you considered receiving it and then paying back? This is what I do. Three reasons:

1) When you get CB the government pay your stamp
2) I pop it in a high interest account and get a few quid in interest
3) If for any reason my partner's income drops I won't have to reapply

It's a simple job to do the tax return, as you only need to do one part. It's payable in a lump by Jan 31st.

missscotia

You can still get government to pay your stamp even if you opt out of payments. Was just reading that this morning.

I honestly couldn't trust myself to put it in a savings account and not spend it, I think I would be happier just opting out. It is paid in arrears so that is why i was wondering if i would still get paid that 2 weeks.

Spendless

Are you working and how old is your child? If you aren't working or aren't earning enough to pay NI and your child is under 12, then you need to look at claiming and then paying back.

You receive a NI credit if you claim child benefit. I can't remember the name it's called now, but it used to be called Home Responsibilities protection.

If your child is under 12 and you’re not working or don’t earn enough to pay National Insurance contributions, Child Benefit can help you qualify for National Insurance credits.

These credits count towards your State Pension. They protect it by making sure you don’t have gaps in your National Insurance record.


From

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit/what-youll-get

ETA - Sorry missed above reply. I hadn't heard of getting stamp paid but not receiving payments.

missscotia

I read this on the gov.uk site -

If you’re affected by the tax charge
You can choose not to get Child Benefit payments, but you should still fill in the Child Benefit claim form. This will help you get National Insurance credits which count towards your State Pension.

missscotia

Sorry also this from the webpage - https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/protecting-your-state-pension-when-you-have-a-baby

"How to claim Child Benefit

To claim Child Benefit, you’ll need to fill in a Child Benefit claim form (CH2).

Send it to the Child Benefit Office along with your child’s original birth or adoption certificate.

Even if you don’t think you’ll be entitled to anything because either you or your partner earns over the £50,000 tax-free limit, it’s still worth claiming so you don’t miss out on National Insurance credits.

If either of you earns over £60,000, you can always opt not to receive the payments - and avoid the tax charge - but still get the entitlements."

xylophone

Had your partner thought of increasing his pension contributions?

http://www.pruadviser.co.uk/content/knowledge/technical-centre/child_benefit_trap/#