High Income Child Benefit Charge

xylophone wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge/pay-the-charge

If you can’t get information from your partner or ex-partner
You can write to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to ask whether your partner or ex-partner gets Child Benefit or has a higher adjusted net income than you. HMRC will reply ‘yes’ or ‘no’ - they won’t give you any financial information.

You can only ask for this information if you and your partner either live together, or separated within the tax year you want information for.

It seems to me that financial information (even if limited) is being supplied?

The information being given is not how much is being received, only whether or not you are living in a household which is receiving Child benefit.

The information you get from the request provides no details of who the person is that is in receipt of child benefit, nor how much is received.

What I don't get is if we are all totally responsible for our own tax affairs why we don't all have to file self assessment, instead of which we are actually being stopped from filing self assessment.

How come HMRC now believes they know enough about my affairs to do it all themselves? I do understand that I will need to triple check their figures as I don't wish to get caught out with penalties. But if they know so much about my affairs why don't they also know about other peoples?

Swifty75 wrote: »

I can remember that the changes to the payment of child benefit was massively unpopular, and that it was all over the press. What was not in the press was that I and many others should fill in a self assessment. Hmrc must have had the information and know how to link earnings and cb receipt, they do as they have caught up with me for an issue that began in 12/13 (6 tax years back). As I say I have paid the tax back, however hmrc are acting worse than a back street loan shark demanding penalties. I asked hmrc how I would fill in the self assessment with regard to receipt of child benefit if my wife would not tell me how much, if any, cb was being received. They told me that they did not know what I should do? Unfortunately it is not just myself who has been caught by this situation. There are many many more people who did not see the amazing multi billion pound Media campaign that had the taxman waving a self assessment form in front of my face saying 'if you do not fill one of these in we will fine you thousands of pounds'. Hmrc admitted over the phone to me, and I have it recorded, that it is a far from ideal situation to only start informing people in 17/18 about an issue from 12/13.

To be brutally honest, it's not HMRC's fault that you and your spouse dont communicate well with each other.

The issue of how much child benefit your wife received is a complete and utter red herring. All you need to know is how many children you have that were eligible to be included on a Child Benefit claim.

The amounts of child benefit are published on the gov. uk website should you need them.

The reason why HMRC can identify you have nothing at all to do with linking your record to the child benefit system. They are not and never have been linked.

Hmrc receive a worklist from CBO, they cross reference that against the address on the claimants record and look for other people living in the household. Thats it.

The fact HMRC have only come to you now means nothing.

It is YOUR responsibility to know the rules.

Nobody ever told me its illegal to take somebodies car without permission but I know its illegal.

All of the information is available on the gov. uk website.

It WAS notified in the press, on forums, on tv shows, on radio programms, by HMRC themselves in letters, by the government in the many many budget documents they produce that this was the process.

It's time that people realised that tax is their own responsibility to deal with, even if they are employed it is still the individuals responsibility to ensure the correct amount is paid, and the correct information/submissions are made within the correct timescales.

If you disagree with the penalties then appeal/object. Take it to the commissioners, take it to the courts, etc etc.

I personally wouldnt say your chances are very high of success but thats your options. Its not going to change the fact that what has happened has happened, and no matter how many times you claim to not have known about it, it wont change the fact that the information has been out there since 2013.


Finally, no matter how many times you say it, it's not something that happened 6 years ago. This policy started in January 2013. Taxpayers had until 5 October 2013 to notify HMRC that they would be affected, with the first tax return due 31 January 2014.

HMRC have issued the penalties in the main because it was they who discovered that these people had a duty to notify HMRC and complete a tax return but had still not done so. Had you notified HMRC, even if notification was after 5 October 2013, and tax return submitted after 31 January 2014, then its unlikely that penalties would have been issued, and only the interest would have been payable on top of the liability.


As Ive said many times before, people need to start getting used to dealing with tax on their own as there are many changes coming which put even more responsibility on the taxpayer that they have not had in the past.

As for your recorded phone call, it's worth nothing. It does not absolve you of your responsibilities.

beefturnmail wrote: »

Which kind of makes you wonder what do we pay our taxes for? Maybe we can get rid of HMRC since we are all going to be doing their job for them

Thats tbe point though, it isnt HMRC's job to

This is how your taxes are divied up according to UK Gov't

https://goo.gl/images/rLaQvc

Less than 0.6% of the estimated £690Bn of tax revenues this financial year will go to administering HMRC.

You dont pay taxes just to fund HMRC.

The idea behind making people more responsible for their own taxes, as well as it actually being each individuals responsibility anyway, is to a) reduce the number of staff in HMRC per the Government pledge in 2010, and b) to free up more staff into compliance based roles to further combat tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance, more staff to deal with none payment, none compliance. Thus providing the UK with more funds to run the country.

More staff to deal with none compliance of NMW laws, ensuring that every employed person in the UK receives the salary that they are legally entitled to.

By reducing the number of low value contacts, things that the taxpayer should be doing themselves, it means less waiting time on the phone, faster response times to post and online submissions, a better quality of service, better training for staff with fewer time restrictions in place enabling more staff tobe able to deal with more technical calls and correspondence.


Thats only the visible taxes side, you then have customs, border protections, checking ports in the UK and Abroad for people trying to enter the country illegally, preventing illegal products from entering the country, preventing customs duty evasion, plus many many more services that are offerred.