Claiming child benefit guide discussion area 29 April 2019 at 5:22PM in Marriage, relationships & families 36 replies 6K views

Former_MSE_Julie_B

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the Claiming child benefit guide:

Make sure you're not missing out on £100s or £1,000s in child benefit or on national insurance contributions that go to your state pension

dawyldthing

A friend of mine missed out on a year of it as she didn’t know about it. I’m really surprised it’s not more known/ given in the gumph of leaflets you get from everywhere

funkyjams

Quick question. We claim child benefit & because I earn over £60k I do a self assessment in Jan and pay nearly all of it back again. The assessment bill was always a bit of a hefty nightmare to pay, so a couple of years ago I spoke to HMRC who adjusted my tax code (I think?) so the benefit was recouped over the year, and my self assessment is generally about zero now.
A couple of months ago we separated and I am now renting a house on my own, while my wife is still getting the child benefit. Am I still responsible for paying this back at the end of the tax year? Or does this change of our situation mean I won't need to pay it back. In which case, can HMRC adjust my code so I'm not paying for it every month? And I guess in the future I won't need to do a self assessment..? Which would be nice...

Thanks

unholyangel

funkyjams wrote: »

Quick question. We claim child benefit & because I earn over £60k I do a self assessment in Jan and pay nearly all of it back again. The assessment bill was always a bit of a hefty nightmare to pay, so a couple of years ago I spoke to HMRC who adjusted my tax code (I think?) so the benefit was recouped over the year, and my self assessment is generally about zero now.
A couple of months ago we separated and I am now renting a house on my own, while my wife is still getting the child benefit. Am I still responsible for paying this back at the end of the tax year? Or does this change of our situation mean I won't need to pay it back. In which case, can HMRC adjust my code so I'm not paying for it every month? And I guess in the future I won't need to do a self assessment..? Which would be nice...

Thanks

Yes, you're still responsible. You can even be hit with the charge for a child that is not your own.

BTW if your adjusted net income is 60k or over, you need to repay 100% of it.

sheramber

If are legally separated you can forward proof to the Child Benefit Office who will amend their records.

username901

Not currently claiming CB. Have 3 kids (have claimed in past but not for past 2 years) In tax year 2018-2019 I earned £70k, 2019-2020 wife and I will earn £50k exactly, can we claim CB now or does it go via the previous year's earnings so I need to wait till next April?

Eagles1905

Quick question, am I entitled to anything? Single Father, paying child maintenance for 3 x weekends per month (2 overnight stays) Work full time, pay my way for everything and do not currently receive any assistance other than single occupancy council tax allowance. Is there a way I can asses anything? I'm in a national average salary job and to be honest, its tight each month.

sheramber

username901 wrote: »

Not currently claiming CB. Have 3 kids (have claimed in past but not for past 2 years) In tax year 2018-2019 I earned £70k, 2019-2020 wife and I will earn £50k exactly, can we claim CB now or does it go via the previous year's earnings so I need to wait till next April?

It goes on current year's income of the highest paid so you can claim now. Payments can only be back dated 3 months.

sheramber

Eagles1905 wrote: »

Quick question, am I entitled to anything? Single Father, paying child maintenance for 3 x weekends per month (2 overnight stays) Work full time, pay my way for everything and do not currently receive any assistance other than single occupancy council tax allowance. Is there a way I can asses anything? I'm in a national average salary job and to be honest, its tight each month.

Child benefit is paid the parent that the child lives with , Only one person can claim the benefit.

Clwbobs

I am the highest earner between me and my husband. My annual earnings are above the £50,000 CB threshold. This is our only child. This tax year, my earnings will be lower than the £50,000 CB threshold as I have been on mat leave. I have been receiving the full CB amount as I won’t be liable for the tax charge due to my earnings being lower for the 2019/20 tax year. Am I right in thinking I won’t be liable this year?

When I return back to work in April, I’ll be in a new tax year and will be above the threshold so I guess I just notify HMRC and either have the benefits stopped or completed a self assessment. Can someone help or confirm this?

Accountant_Kerry

yes that's right.
Does your husband earn enough to pay full national insurance contributions?