Salary of £70k- should I even register for Child Benefit?

Notanothernickname

As per title. I’m trying to understand 2 aspects:
- would registering fill in the gap when on unpaid maternity leave?
- wouldnt the child otherwise not receive their NI when they turn 16?

Background:

My situation is a bit unusual, as my salary base is £70k (salary sacrifice of 13%) and on top of it I get RSUs. 

From research so far it looks like we’re not entitled to anything due to my salary (husband’s salary is a lot lower, he runs his startup). 

I’m well aware we’re in a good situation overall, so not complaining, but I’m not clear if it’s even worth registering for it and opting out from receiving payments. 

I’m looking at specific advice in one of the MSE articles:

If your income is £60,000+, it's still worth registering for Child Benefit

If you or your partner have an income of £60,000 or more, it's still worthwhile filling in the Child Benefit form and registering your entitlement – even if you opt out of actually receiving the benefit itself. Doing so has a couple of advantages:

• You'll get national insurance (NI) credits, which count towards your state pension. Most need at least 35 years' worth of NI credits to receive the full state pension, so this is especially important if one of you is a non-earner or makes less than £123 a week (which is how much you need to earn to qualify for automatic NI credits).
  
  
• It will ensure your child is registered to receive a NI number shortly before they turn 16.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

amanda1024

Re unpaid maternity leave - i think the HICBC is based on tax year income, so if for the tax year(s) you're on unpaid mat leave your income (after salary sacrifice) for the whole year will be lower than £60k then yes it's worth registering for child benefit. 

400ixl

It is always worth registering, the question is whether it is worth then opting out of the payment.

Not quite clear, are you the one who will go onto unpaid maternity leave or your partner? If you, then what impact is that going to have your taxable salary over the tax period (or two if going across 2 tax years)?

Veteransaver

It's always based on income for that tax year, so if you aren't being paid for several months of that tax year and your taxable income (Eg after salary sacrifice or pension contributions etc) is less than £60k then it is worth claiming.
Note that if it's between 50 and 60K you will need to pay some (not all  of it)  back though so bear that in mind, or try to ensure you stay below 50k taxable income for the year (s) you are on maternity leave and not earning your normal wage.

sheramber

You can claim Child Benefit but opt out of payment.

Somoen did report that their child did not get a National Insurance automatically as they had not claimed Child Benefit. 

Without a claim to child benefit there will be no National Insurance  record for your child.

Notanothernickname

Thank you for your comments, super helpful. It will be me on maternity leave and indeed, I will be paid roughly half of my usual salary during 2024/2025, so might be worth applying and adjusting it accordingly for the duration of maternity leave. 

Point taken on NI for the child, worth doing for that reason alone.