To think the government can't force women to declare what their dp earns?

[ThreeLittlePandas]

I'm a SAHM and claim child benefit for my 3 children. What my dh earns is his business and the government can go whistle for it if they think that I'm going to declare his earning.

I claim CB not dh

In fact they can fuck the fuck off....

Interesting to seehow it's enforced.

I think you still get it, to protect your NI contributions, but your DH will have it deducted from his salary.

They can't force you to say, but they can refuse to give you CB if you don't complete the paperwork, including stating what your DH earns.

You claim CB for your DCs, not for you. If the government decides parents who earn over a certain amount don't need it, they can decide not to pay it. Assuming your DH is your DC's father, then his wage should be used to determine if as a family you need benefits to look after your DCs or if you earn enough as a family to pay for everything they need without a state handout.

I think they probably can. That's the way it is done for other benefits, you have to declare your household income, including your partner's, not just your own. It would be considered fraud if you claimed without declaring relevant income (relevant in their view, not yours!)

but if you claim something you have to claim it in the way prescribed or you don't get it. So it will be prescribed that you declare incomes (either that or HMRC will just cross check). Sweat the big stuff

I never really knew what my Ex earned. I never saw any of his payslips and had to rely on what he told me. Now, I'm quite sure that he didn't want me to know exactly what he earned.

And I'm probably not alone.

But how are they going to enforce it?

It's irrelevant for me btw as dh only earns 26k.

Are the children his?

This might mean that absolutely everyone would have to resubmit claims to meet the new requirements (massively expensive waste of time, especially as incomes can vary rapidly).

I thought the idea was that the HRT had to declare if anyone in their household was claiming CB. This is still a breach of independence in financial affairs. Now, the Government can do this (just as they can break the principle of double taxation, which they also appear to be doing in the Budget), but I would have far more faith in an administration which made a proper announcements on the changing of these principles, rather than just ignoring them.

The same way they do for other benefits which are dependent on household income, I guess. Which of course means 'not very effectively' in many cases! Though there would be the threat of being prosecuted for fraud if you were found out which would put many people off.

it's not yours though. It is for your children.

My youngest is his but not the older two

Anyone claiming means tested benefits has to declare the total household income including their DP's salary. Why should you be any different?

And if you don't you won't get CB. If you wrongly claim your household has less income than it has you will be a benefit cheat and IMO should be prosecuted.

And by that token why should some children lose out because of what their mothers partner earns?

Of course they can, or they can refuse you the benefit if you don't

It's no difference to "benefit cheats" who claim single parent allowance while living with a DP if you don't and I'm sure you don't want to be one of those. All benefits are assessed on household income, what's wrong about this one is that it's not to be properly based on household income.

(oops, that was a reply to 'how are they going to enforce it?)

I do wonder too about the admin costs and overheads of implementing and enforcing a change like this, I wonder how much it will really save overall, especially if some people may put in false claims.

I would think though they'd be suspicious if you had no or low income of your own, were not receiving any other benefits, and didn't mention partner's income when you applied - they'd surely realise you must be living on something, and would probably ask for clarification!

Im not talking about me personally. Dh only earns 26k

I'd like to see them enforce it tbh, we don't claim tax credits and we aren't taxed as a household.

Unless they are going to make everybody reclaim CB then how will they know we are a family rather than two adults sharing a house. We aren't married.

I think if they want to use household income to assess eligibility then we should be taxed as a household. It would make many families just over the HRT threshold where one person earns substantially less better off.

Presumably though, if you don't declare his income you won't receive any payments? At least, that is what would happen if you were to claim for any other benefit and fail to give all the requested information.

I'm also quite interested in how this will be enforced. What will happen if your circumstances change for example? Will everyone who claims child benefit need to declare their earnings each year? Surely the cost of administrating that would outweigh any savings that are made by limiting it to a income based benefit.

Are they going to reassess every year too?

Wages can go up and down.

Xposts silver.

Does your DH not consider it to be his responsibility to feed/clothe/house your DCs from your previous relationship even though he's married their mother who has custody of them?

If it is his child then presumably you BOTH support that child - so definitely in that case.

It is more blurred for me if they are not his children. BUT saying that, if you chose to live as a family presumably you all support one another, and it is money coming into the household, so should be claimed by the household I guess.

My DD earns a lot more than me. If on our own he would not be eligible to claim, my salary means I would be. Together we are not eligible, which to me is right. I shouldn't be eligible as our household income is sufficiently high enough.

If people wish to claim any other benefit then they have to declare household income so can;t really see why this one should be any different really.

I do think there may well be an issue with NI contributions for SAHMs though.

actually, if they do make everyone reapply for it, it would be a really quick way of getting lots of people to stop claiming it. I know people who are on the threashold of being entitled to it but would probably not miss it so if the forms seem a hassle, they might not bother. (Whereas, it's currently just one of the many forms you fill in after having a baby so most people just apply without thinking about it)