To be bemused by the self assessment procedure for high earners still receiving child benefit

[Mosschopz]

Yeah I know this has been done to death...

Me: high earner, standing to lose about half of my CB I think. OH: not high earner so angry at the removal of this payment, nothing we can do though is there?

Never received a letter notifying me of how my circumstances would change so left it assuming someone would be in touch. Nothing. It's been praying on my mind that I might stand to get a big bill so last night filled in the self-assessment form.

Filled in self assessment form online and that was simple enough, but what now? Am I supposed to work out how much I owe them? Or wait?

[peggyundercrackers]

we decided to stop our claim as I earn over the limit - i found it easier to do that rather than fill in tax returns.

I have also found out that they will deal with queries etc. over the phone now and you dont need to fill out a tax return. i recieved some dividends and needed to pay CGT on an investment - called them up and told them, they said we will do it all over the phone so you dont need to fill in a self assesment form. Once i gave them the figures they told me there and then how much i was due, they then asked how i wanted to pay it back, 1 lump or through PAYE - once i gave them all the info i got a letter through 2 days later telling me what we had agreed, it was all very easy - all done in about 10 mins and no arsing about with forms.

[Splatt34]

Unless you know for certain that one of you will earn over 60k AFTER pension, gift aid etc etc continue to claim. Do a self assessment. Even if you do earn over this, circumstances can change.

I will continue to claim, keep the money offsetting my mortgage for upto 20 months then give it back through self assessment. I did the SA form for the first time this year. It's really not the complicated.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

BTW... anyone needing to make SA online a little less stressful, I can highly recommend a bit of software called 'TaxCalc'. Calculates whether they owe you or you owe them as you're going along.

[PatriciaHolm]

DH earns over the threshold for getting any, but we forgot to stop claiming so all that happened is that there is a question on the self assessment form asking how much CB you got in 2012/13 (only 3 months because you only need to declare payments received since Jan 7, 2013) and it will be reclaimed through PAYE tax. No problem.

[DamnBamboo]

Agree with cognito
This really isn't that hard.

[DamnBamboo]

Why on earth would HMRC know who earns what?

[DamnBamboo]

*Dh filled in his sa form as usual for 31 Jan, but there was no question about cb? Does anyone know please?

Yes there is. I saw it and it didn't affect me for the last tax year as I was earning less and working part-time. But my husband has always earned more than the threshold for receiving any at all, and so the two months that we accepted (that we shouldn't have) he paid back through his tax code.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

"you'd think HMRC would know who earns what "

??? They only know that when you tell them.... I don't see the big deal here. I've done SA for at least 10 years for one reason or another and, if most of your income is straightforward PAYE, there's really not that much to it.

[Retropear]

We're not even married.

[riksti]

To be fair to HMRC it wasn't their idea to do the CB clawback or to structure it in such a way. That was the Government.

[OnePlanOnHouzz]

what a PITA ! you'd think HMRC would know who earns what and could sort this out themselves incredibly easily without a this form filling and questions between married couples about who earns what !! its just an opertunity for them to say 'oops you didn't do what we didn't ask you to do , but because you didn't we are going to fine you !'

[arethereanyleftatall]

Thank you so much littkebear, your help is appreciated.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Hkat-there's a form on line you can fill in to have it re instated. I opted out completely by mistake and now have to claim again. What a palaver

[riksti]

HKat - according to this www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefitcharge/stopstartpayments.htm#6 you can restart the CB payments online

[OneStepForwardTwoBack]

My hub earns a little over the threshold and declared it do he could do self assessment. He is being taxed the full amount - surely this isn't right? Will he get a rebate at the end if the tax year?

[HKat]

Slightly different circumstances, but whilst we're on the subject I would be really grateful if anyone had any advice...I earned £60k+ at the point the CB changes came in so stopped claiming it (Jan 2013). But in Nov 2013 I went part time and so from that date, have been under the CB threshold (£40k). Do I just start claiming CB again? I haven't, as I'm worried I might still be over the threshold for 2013/2014 even going part time half way through and don't want to fall foul of SA. But then I guess my P60 in April 2014 will tell me?? If I do restart it, does it get backdated?

[LittleBearPad]

Possibly true Retropear.

We'll be tracking all gift aid, charity donations etc from now on which we wouldn't have done before DH had to do self assessment and his pension getting higher payments too!

[hairypaws]

Same here, no letter initially but in December dh received something from tax office so he did a self assessment and we then got a bill in for the full amount. It was no surprise as it had been well advertised but did think we would have heard more earlier.

[Retropear]

We ditched our private health cover to bring us under hence getting a cheque as they messed up the dates it stopped.

It's madness as surely it would be better for the national coffers if families used private health cover paid for by companies.

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

I take your point but the deal with tax is that it is the responsibility of the tax payer to ensure they are paying the right amount. Others such as HMRC or employers have a duty of care and should provide certain information e.g. tax codes, but the onus is fully on the taxpayer. The rule changes have been very well publicised so anyone saying they didn't know what they were meant to do won't get that much of a hearing. FWIW if a higher rate taxpayer makes personal pension contributions or donates regularly to charity, self-assessment could potentially earn them a rebate.

[Retropear]

We had a cheque back within a few days.I'd imagine you'd have a bill pdq if applicable.They're not shy in coming forward.

[LittleBearPad]

Moss chops didn't it say at the end of the online sa form how much you had to pay?

[riksti]

Arethereanyleftatall - the CB needs to be paid back by the highest earner, not necessarily by the one who is receiving it. Therefore the relevant amount should have gone on your husband's tax return.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

They'll contact you with a bill of what you owe. It happened within about 3 weeks of is filling in the self assessment.