High Income Child Benefit Charge

ps124

I've seen a few threads about this and some articles on the net but still very confused. I received a letter from HMRC that am required to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge and I should have been doing a self assessment? As I hadn't done it, HMRC did it for me and worked that I needed to repay the charge amounting to circa £5k for the years 2017-2020. I'm not very tax/finance savvy (not making excuses) but this is the first I heard of it and I always just assumed that as I'm PAYE, my income is declared with HMRC and the correct amount of Tax is being paid/deducted. I called them to ask and apparently I was sent a letter in 2019 which I am not aware of. 

Anyway, I've seen some articles where you can appeal with some winning court cases etc but there is lots of varying bits of advice and its confusing. Can you help me with the following please:

• Can I actually appeal against this? If not for the full amount but at least for a reduced amount for the years where I wasn't notified (2017-2019)? Seems a bit excessive to take them 2 years to send me a notification letter and 4 years to send me these charges during which time the expected charges have built up
  
• Will they expect me to pay a lump sum back for these charges?
• Do I have to do a self assessment every year now?

Thanks all.

ps124

anyone can help on this?

GeordieGeorge

There’s nothing to appeal, it’s not the case that being on PAYE means that you’re not responsible, and whether you were or not, you’ve received money in error and do need to pay it back.

This isn’t a tax underpayment, it’s an overpayment of child benefit.

poppy12345

The changes took place in 2013 and you were supposed to notify HMRC if your earnings were more than £50,000. https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge Therefore, there's nothing to appeal.

sheramber

There is no appeal against the charge,

However, some people have had success appealing against any penalty charged. 

You may be able to to come an arrangement about payment. You need to contact them and will probably have to give them an income/expenditure statement to agree a suitable repayment term.

ps124

Thanks for the replies. So I've spoken with HMRC and informed them my earnings are correct. The next step is they will write to me in two weeks confirming next steps. However they said I had to pay a penalty charge on top of the repayment which seems very excessive. They said I can appeal however.

What are my chances of winning this appeal?

poppy12345

ps124 said:

Thanks for the replies. So I've spoken with HMRC and informed them my earnings are correct. The next step is they will write to me in two weeks confirming next steps. However they said I had to pay a penalty charge on top of the repayment which seems very excessive. They said I can appeal however.

What are my chances of winning this appeal?

When they said you can appeal, they very likely meant you can appeal the penalty charge. As advised by sheramber, there's no appeal against the actual charge. You were simply overpaid CB and now you need to repay it back.

ps124

Hi Poppy, yes I mean the penalty charge. I understand the no appeal against the amount which is why I stated that are earnings are correct so the charge for repayment applies. What I'm asking about is the circa £800 they want to charge me as a 'penalty' on top of the repayment. I've had no correspondence about this previously (they said they sent me a letter in 2019), but even then, I'm having to pay 4/5 years worth of charges for something that took ages to process. 

Rach56red

I got stung with this a couple of years ago when my company car benefit on my P11D took me over the threshold. I stupidly didn’t realise and was assuming it was on the salary element only. I had to suck it up and pay £850 fine. Done tax returns ever since. 

sheramber

it is only in recent years that HMRC got access to  child benefit claimants  details.

Although both departments are under the banner of HMRC they are separate entities. 

HMRC did not know who claimed child benefit and Child Benefit department did not know salary information. 

Since that information became known to  HMRC  they have been reviewing  thousands of   cases, hence the delay in contacting everybody.

Details of the publicity surrounding the  charge can be found here

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge

 

superbigal

It's unfortunately a double edge sword.  You see the additional penalties as unjustified.  Others may see the Child Benefit claim as bordering on fraud.  You are always responsible for ensuring you are entitled to benefits being paid.