Do the new changes to Child Benefit only affect future payments?

ollie75

Hi my partner claims Child benefit, and as I earn £70K I pay it back yearly from my tax.  Our combined house income is £75000, so the new changes will be of benefit to us for sure.  I just wanted to check, I am about to start paying back last years Child benefit payment from my tax. Do the new limits coming into force only affect future payments (ie payments from April 2024 to 2025) or do they apply to historic payments?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

ollie75 said:

Hi my partner claims Child benefit, and as I earn £70K I pay it back yearly from my tax.  Our combined house income is £75000, so the new changes will be of benefit to us for sure.  I just wanted to check, I am about to start paying back last years Child benefit payment from my tax. Do the new limits coming into force only affect future payments (ie payments from April 2024 to 2025) or do they apply to historic payments?

That is highly unlikely, nigh on impossible.

I think you mean you are about to start paying back the year before lasts HICBC (the amount owed for 2022-23, not 2023-24).

Nothing in the recent announcement changes the HICBC owed for years to 5 April 2024.

borris78

ollie75 said:

Do the new limits coming into force only affect future payments (ie payments from April 2024 to 2025) or do they apply to historic payments?

The new limits come into effect from this tax year (2024/25). Therefore the people who already pay this tax won't actually see any change for two years. This is because most people on PAYE are paying the tax in arrears due to the way the self assessment tax system works. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

borris78 said:

ollie75 said:

Do the new limits coming into force only affect future payments (ie payments from April 2024 to 2025) or do they apply to historic payments?

The new limits come into effect from this tax year (2024/25). Therefore the people who already pay this tax won't actually see any change for two years. This is because most people on PAYE are paying the tax in arrears due to the way the self assessment tax system works. 

A few (not very MSE) people opt to pay some extra tax during the year by having an adjustment to their PAYE code.

I suspect it is the minority as they are voluntarily paying something long before it needs to be paid and it doesn't prevent the need for a Self Assessment return, which quantifies the actual HICBC.

Those people will presumably get an updated tax code in the next few months which reflects the change to the thresholds and taper rate Jeremy Hunt announced.