To stop my child benefit?

[meboo]

Who actually understands the implications of this? I work and earn iro £7k per year, my OH earns iro £70k per year and so if I continue to receive Child benefit it will only be taxed out of his wages, swings and roundabouts.
I am sure I read somewhere about not stopping the contributions as it affects my 'stamp'.

I have looked at the HMRC site and I am none the wiser - help??

[IrnBruTheNoo]

Have checked HMRC website but it's not very clear about this latest news...Anyhow, our household income is around £30k so it looks like we're going to be keeping child benefit. Thank goodness!

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

Just opted out, am pissed as I didnt receive a letter and was totally clueless about the whole bloody thing having had to be done by tonight, thankfully I have read through the threads here and all the queries I had were answered here so thank you all MNetters.

I couldnt find my CB number but it cancelled it anyway, had confirmation very quickly funnily enough.

I think they rused it through in the hope that will have forgotten about it by the next election, not a chance.

[Glittertwins]

I already keep the CB in a separate account after they lost a load of account data. It is now automatically being shunted into an ISA. The interest earned on it will counter what DH will have to pay back at some point.

[ilovepowerhoop]

if it gets paid into your account then the child benefit number shows on your bank statement (well most of it anyway) - I just used what was shown plus my national insurance number and it worked ok.

[ebersneezer]

An, good. You don't need it for the online form, you do need NI number :)

[ebersneezer]

Shit I can't find the number anywhere.

[meboo]

ok, So where do I find my child benefit number?

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

" So if he was the sort of man who withheld money from me and I was squirelling CB away in a secret account - how are HMRC going to get it back off him?"

The responsibility to pay the correct amount of tax always rests with the taxpayer. Ignorance is no defence.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

"Why should you expect a man, who is not the father of children, to pay tax just because he is married to the mother!!!!!"

It's no different in principle to the same mother losing Child Tax Credits because she is now living with a partner... or Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. You don't even have to be married for cohabitation to affect other benefits. When CB disappears entirely and is replaced by the Universal Credit, the problem will go away completely.

[PoppyWearer]

That's my plan, Splatt34. It already goes into savings accounts, but now I'll put it in a separate account instead.

[Splatt34]

The other thing is, if you are happy to do a tax return, is that the cb paid to you in April 2013 doesn't need repaying until Jan 2015. So if you can be disciplined not to spend it could sit in a savings account earning you interest for up to 20 months.

[Splatt34]

I've had no notification despite being high earner and cb claimer. Am keeping it at moment as going on mat leave in May so income for 2013/14 will be below 50k. will self assess this year but TBH my tax has been all over the place Kthis tax year as had 3 employers and 6 tax codes (??!!) so i will find it easier to get it all straight than get a letter in 2-3 years saying I owe £x

[CommanderShepard]

As I said in another thread, HMRC won't tell my husband whether or not I receive CB because of confidentiality rules. So if he was the sort of man who withheld money from me and I was squirelling CB away in a secret account - how are HMRC going to get it back off him?

More than this I worry for women who do have husbands/partners who do as I describe above and are facing loss of the only income they have coming just to them.

But of course, we're women and worthless as far as the Tories are concerned.

[LIZS]

roseum all those currently claiming CB are registered so for those you just opt out using the online form - www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefitcharge/stopchbpayments.htm . Future births will need to be registered as at present but presumably an option would be added to not receive payment for them either.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Don't forget that if you are close to the thresholds it is based on adjusted net income. So you can deduct pension payments and charitable donations from your earnings. Don't fall on your swords if you don't need to!

[roseum]

According to the advice I've read - if you want to protect your NI entitlement for being a carer of a child under 12 (e.g. if you are a sahm and aren't paying NI contributions through employer) BUT stop getting the child benefit payments because your OH earns too much, then you need to cancel the child benefit payments but remain registered for child benefit. However, I have yet to find anywhere on HMRC's website which explains how you go about doing this....

[ConcreteElephant]

From the moment it was announced that cancellation of CHB would apply based on a single income rather than household income (meaning that a single income couple earning £61k would lose it completely while a dual income couple earning £98k between them would keep it) I think it was clear that this isn't the fairest of policies. It's ludicrous and has the potential to be an administrative nightmare, both for individuals and HMRC. I don't disagree necessarily with the aim of the policy but the means have been very poorly thought through. It's crazy.

[WilsonFrickett]

I've kept the claim but cancelled the payment - so NI is still protected by DP won't have to do any tax shenanigans. But he is well over the threshold so I know we'd have to pay it all back through his tax return - just stopping the payment makes it easier.

[specialknickers]

I really hope you're right... To me it seems very unfair that sahms are penalised, when couples where both parents are earning (and have a higher household income) can claim thousands of pounds a year. But to lose one's pension as well really would be a massive kick in the teeth.

[ConcreteElephant]

The difference between In the Thick of It and real-life policy is that In the Thick of It is amusing, while real-life is just tiresome and possibly has less swearing...

I'm rather looking forward to the return of Yes, Prime Minister now.

[HousewifeFromHeaven]

Thanks concrete

[ConcreteElephant]

It is a shambles, so much confusion! but specialknickers the fact that you registered for child benefit should protect your stamp / pension. It doesn't matter that you won't receive the money any longer, as long as you claimed CHB in the first place you'll be fine.. I'm not a tax expert but that's my understanding of it.

[specialknickers]

What an effing shambles... I've just stopped mine, but I'm a sahm... Does that mean that I won't get a state pension? That's outrageous if so. I'd all up hmrc and ask, but I bet they don't even know...

Is it just me or does every one of the government's new policies seem like it's been hatched in an episode of The Thick Of It.

[ceeveebee]

Both DH and I earn over the limit and I received a letter about 6 weeks ago. I've stopped it - not because of the inconvenience of doing self assessment, as we both have to do that anyway, but because I don't think its right for us to claim when we aren't entitled to and the government is trying to make cuts.