Help With - High Income Child Benefit Charge

TheCatSitter

Good Morning 👋 

Does anyone have experience with setting up a payment plan with regards to this bill?

Unfortunately due to not knowing (not an excuse really), we got a bill for almost £5k for multiple years.

As my partner way PAYE he wrongly believed it was all automatically calculated.

Obviously we need to pay it, but our circumstances have massively changed since August last year. He lost his job, I had a life saving operation and am unable to work long term and he is now a carer full time for me and his mother (only officially for his mother).

we have no savings, and no real way to immediately pay it back.

On the call with them this morning, they said they didn’t add any penalty as it’s clear it wasn’t intentional. But sorting out payments is with another department.

so does anyone have experience setting up repayments with this department? We’re just worried they won’t accept what we can afford which is currently max £50 a month.

TIA x 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

There may not be a penalty but interest will be added, albeit at a fairly low rate.

All you can do is give an honest figure you believe is payable.  But if it is going to take nearly 10 years to pay back then expect HMRC to suggest you do things to improve your offer.

TheCatSitter

Thanks for the response 

We are already living on a food budget of £300 a month for 4 of us, I really can’t get any other bills any lower.

I cannot even afford clothes for the kids that they’ve grown out of. 

I don’t know what else I can do, but I totally get your point.

[Deleted User]

Go the DFW boards.  They'll give you advice on cutting costs.

£300 a month for food could be cut a lot lower without too much trouble.

TheCatSitter

Yes I will go to DFW boards. But £300 is as low as it goes. That includes pet food, my sons special dietary requirements, washing liquids and toiletries etc