Self Assessment for Child Benefit asking for more income tax

badenmorgan

Hi, I am confused. I am filling out an on-line self-assessment tax return for 2021-22 (a year that fell through the cracks unfortunately) as I get Child Benefit and exceeded their high income threshold by a tiny amount that year, by £41.33p. I have filled out the P60 income figure and P60 tax deduced figure and other sections such as interest earned (£200) and amount given to charity (£72), and it says I owe £64.20 in income tax but nothing to pay back of Child Benefit. What I don't get is, the reason I am submitting the self assessment is to pay back any owed Child Benefit, not income tax as my tax is PAYE via my employer, a local council. Even on my Govt Gateway account they say I paid 'the correct amount of tax'...so I assumed I should not need to self assess on my income tax at all. They sent me a letter saying I need to fill out a self-assessment tax return for 2021/22 after I contacted them about the CHB so I feel I need to respond at least. Should I submit the tax return and then challenge the amount they are asking me to pay back to them?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

What is there to challenge 🤔.

HMRC won't have calculated your tax position themselves, that is what the Self Assessment return is for.  Which you need to submit.

PAYE is only ever provisional, it's not unusual for there to be some tax owed/owing back to you when the final info is known.

Are you certain you have completed it correctly?

Not missed off any employment related expenses by any chance?

sheramber

It is quite common for PAYE tax deducted not to be exact. if it is a small amount HMRC will not pursue payment.

But , if self assessment brings out any tax due it must be paid.

Check that you have entered all the figures correctly. If you have any extra allowances on your code number  have you included these on the return.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

sheramber said:

It is quite common for PAYE tax deducted not to be exact. if it is a small amount HMRC will not pursue payment.

But , if self assessment brings out any tax due it must be paid.

Check that you have entered all the figures correctly. If you have any extra allowances on your code number  have you included these on the return.

I believe William Hill are offering even money on a WFH claim being omitted from the return (or the op deciding a claim wasn't applicable for that year) 😉

it says I owe £64.20 in income tax 

badenmorgan

Thank you both. My Tax code was different that year (yes possibly WFH tax relief which I did apply for) so perhaps it was due to me not accounting for that in my return. What galled me was HMRC have never previously asked me to pay more income tax (I've only been SAing for the last 3 years out of 15 I've been in the job & claiming CHB) and naively I assumed I was only self assessing for potential CHB repayment so finding out that I'm owing income tax as well as CHB is unpleasant surprise. But as you say this may not unusual and I should be more careful with the form filling.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

badenmorgan said:

Thank you both. My Tax code was different that year (yes possibly WFH tax relief which I did apply for) so perhaps it was due to me not accounting for that in my return. What galled me was HMRC have never previously asked me to pay more income tax (I've only been SAing for the last 3 years out of 15 I've been in the job & claiming CHB) and naively I assumed I was only self assessing for potential CHB repayment so finding out that I'm owing income tax as well as CHB is unpleasant surprise. But as you say this may not unusual and I should be more careful with the form filling.

HMRC aren't asking you to pay more though, they are asking you to pay the tax due based on your Self Assessment.

If you have allowed WFH expenses to continue to be included in your tax code for a tax year you don't feel it appropriate to claim for them they are simply getting that money back.

Owing extra tax, or being owed tax back, after the end of the tax year is nothing new!

Ozzig

Would the calc be of any use to you? Covers 2021-22

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-calculator