high income child benefit charge -letter

stcyrus

Ttttttttttt
 

[Deleted User]

 The change to child benefit happened years ago and it was all over the media and this forum when it changed.

 You probably don't have to repay in a lump sum. They should let you set up a payment plan. 

jamjar92

_shel said:

 The change to child benefit happened years ago and it was all over the media and this forum when it changed.

 You probably don't have to repay in a lump sum. They should let you set up a payment plan. 

They charge interest on a repayment plan. Consider paying addition pension payments to reduce your gross to 50,000 or less and there will be no charge in future years.

JoeCrystal

stcyrus said:

Evening All.
received a letter from the HMRC today telling me i have  to pay back child benefit due to my income been over the threshold .Never heard of this .I am employed and all my income is taxed via my employer. My wife receives the child benefit into her account so not something i have been aware of.
I don't submit self assessments 
I have looked over various posts so will get in contact with the HMRC  regarding the figures they are using -ref pension contributions etc.
How can we be held liable for a benefit that we were receiving prior to the introduction of this charge ,how can we be held responsible for  not informing them of something they failed to inform us about - 
The current world of work with the impact of covid and the recession  is already impacting my family income so i am very unsure of the impacts of having to pay back something that i can't afford. 
no sure what to do 

As _shel highlighted, it was very widely reported about it a few years ago, even I know about it, and I don't even have any children. You are responsible for doing your taxes and charges correctly, not HMRC so this is something you should have known about from the start.

[Deleted User]

stcyrus said:

Thanks for the replies. HMRC have all my details, the child benefit is their department so I can't understand how come this comes about, 
As for the roll out I can't recall it but surely it would have to be an on going process as people have kids,
Prehaps it's included some where when you apply for child benefit but as said we were at that stage in family life prior to 2013.
Guess there's a tribunal I can take this too as I can't afford the outstanding 

 Tribunal? To get out of paying? If so nope, its the law, you pay it back. 

 You need to focus on how you can reduce your income so you don't pay in future years, such as paying into a pension. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

If you think you might be liable to pay this for the 2019:20 tax year then it would be a good idea to make sure you file a Self Assessment return by 30 December 2020.

If you do that, owe less than £3,000 for the 2019:20 tax year and are still earning decent money then it should be possible to have the amount owed for 2019:20 included in your 2021:22 tax code.  It's basically an interest free loan with you paying it in equal installments through your wages from April 2021 to March 2022.

This option isn't available to you for tax years before 2019:20.

xylophone

https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/child-benefit/guidance/how-do-child-benefit-and-guardians-allowance-work/high-income-child-benefit-charge/

It was the subject of much debate and columns of newsprint at the time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20298774
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/jan/03/hmrc-fails-communicate-child-benefit-changes

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/806154/High_Income_Child_Benefit_Charge_Awareness_-_HMRC_research_report_533.pdf

https://www.litrg.org.uk/latest-news/news/191213-press-release-review-high-income-child-benefit-charge-say-campaigners

You are not alone in having received a tax demand - https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/feb/09/mother-hit-with-4500-tax-charge-for-child-benefit

For the future
https://adviser.royallondon.com/technical-central/pensions/state-benefits-pension-manuals/child-benefit-avoiding-the-tax-charge/

jamesd

At the moment there's nothing for a tribunal to consider. HMRC noticed that you hadn't complied with a very widely publicised change in the law and sent you the bill for payment of the unpaid charge money. Prosecution is unlikely for this because it is fairly well recognised that quite a few people missed it. I'm assuming that so far they have chosen not to add penalties.

One you've checked their figures you should tell them that their calculation is right if it is, say sorry for missing the change, explain that repaying in a lump is unaffordable and ask to repay at the rate of one year's benefit per year or whatever rate is as fast as you can reasonably manage.

Added a few bits:

"received a letter from the HMRC today telling me i have  to pay back child benefit due to my income been over the threshold" might not really be what it says because it's permitted for a person to claim and take the money and NI credits towards the state pension while the spouse pays the charge.

badmemory

Does your spouse know that you are earning more than the limit for child benefit?  If not, the "benefit" letter she receives annually will probably just be filed in the bin as the note re the claw back will not be seen as relevant.  So an expensive secret to have kept!

dunstonh

I don't submit self assessments 

Just because you do not receive a tax return, does not mean you are not responsible for your own checking and reporting.  That is why it is called self assessment.

How can we be held liable for a benefit that we were receiving prior to the introduction of this charge

Irrelevant.   Tax is on a year by year basis.  I recall back when my children were younger, the child benefit letters had warnings on them about the earnings limit.  And from memory, the year it was introduced, there were additional letters and guide booklets.

how can we be held responsible for  not informing them of something they failed to inform us about 

YOU are responsible for knowing your tax position.

As for the roll out I can't recall it but surely it would have to be an on going process as people have kids,
Prehaps it's included some where when you apply for child benefit but as said we were at that stage in family life prior to 2013.

The information is provided when you apply for it and repeated each year.

Guess there's a tribunal I can take this too as I can't afford the outstanding 

A tribunal is not for that purpose.    You dont get out of paying a legal tax because of personal circumstances.

Your best bet here is to request a payment plan with HMRC.  They may be more open to that than usual considering the current position.

MallyGirl

Every letter relating to child benefit explains about the salary cap and gives you the option to opt out of receiving the benefit. If they have come to your partner then either they haven't read them or they didn't understand your earning level. Neither is the fault of HMRC.
If your employer operates salary sacrifice, and the numbers work, then you can increase your pension payments to get back under the £50k.