To ask how many of you know about the Child Benefit Charge?

[Ballstothisdotcom]

I had to repay over £6k a couple of years ago. Had to get out a loan to do it. The children were mine and not my husbands and I had always claimed as a single parent so just didn’t stop.

Have just read daily mail sad face story about this happening to another family.

My sister and her husband have always claimed it. They have never had it questioned. I just wonder if HMRC are blanket mail sending and hoping people will be honest.

I genuinely had no idea about it until we got the letter. It also seems grossly unfair that two people can earn £49999 per year but if one person goes over it you have to repay it. In our case it was my husband who went over the threshold just slightly so we had to pay back from the day we moved in together.

Any one else?

It's such an unfair system. I remember Labour complaining that it was unfair when it was brought in, but there was no mention of it being changed as one of their manifesto pledges. It really should be challenged. Can Mumsnet not campaign as per a previous poster? Please!

YANBU.

I am aware and stopped claiming while I was in a high-earning job.

Currently I suspect I am eligible for CB but if I start working at a similar level again soon, I won't be. The admin hassle that would be involved in claiming and then unclaiming or completing a tax return is significant.

I can't believe there isn't a simpler way to administer CB that doesn't involve quite so many forms and puts single parents and couples on a level playing field.

Yes I was aware of it, I was furious at the time. DH earned just over threshold, I was sahm , we totally relied in child benefit for essentials. when we lost it it was very tough

So you have a take home income of between 3 and 3.5k, yet you "totally rely" on £137/month (assuming two children) for "essentials"?

housing, food, heat and light are essentials. You need to sort your budgeting if you can't cover that out of 2.5k+.

Don't make me laugh. Another one who needs to check their privilege. Child benefit is not for "essentials" like swimming lessons and a big mortgage. If you have a household income greater than 50K and honestly can't manage financially without CB then you need to look at your spending.

If you are being financially abused and need that £137 because your husband uses money to control you or won't let you access family money, claim CB and let him pay it back. That was the original intention of CB, as a safety net for SAHM- and you can still access it regardless of your household income.

I love how people seem to think having a SAHP is a right not a luxury and they're some how disadvantaged by the £50k rule. Sorry but if your partner is earning over £50k and your household is struggling then go and find and job like everyone else has to or cut your cloth according to your income. We have a combined household income of around £43k (plus DH has cm payments to make and rightly so) and whilst we have little for luxuries, we certainly dont go without essentials like food or basic clothing. It might mean a Primark budget or meal planning but it's hardly destitute. Whilst it may seem easier if you both earn under £50k it also has additional costs like running 2 cars (both contracted car users for work).

I said this on another thread but you could argue that it's not ridiculous for two earners to get it because they are both paying (quite a lot of) tax so is it so unreasonable that they should get something out of the system they are paying into?

Two earners on 35k each will pay much less tax than one on 70k. Two tax allowances, both are in lower tax brackets.

Blackcat there may be numerous reasons as to why one partner is a stay at home parent.
Child benefit used to mean a fair system for everyone- a set amount per child, no matter what their circumstances.
Just because I had to give up my career to be here for my autistic child, should that mean I shouldn’t receive child benefit because my DH happens to earn over £50k?
Now luckily for us, he earns enough over that we don’t need child benefit anymore but I’m sure if you’re only just into the £50k bracket with say 4 kids, it might not be so easy as people think.

Personally I wouldn't mind paying it back if I had that level of income at my disposal. It frees the money up for somebody who could be in desperate need.

After all, a gross income of around £1000 a week is not something to be sneezed at. Many families survive on a lot less.

It does not only affect the child benefit payment though. You will need to jump through hoops to get a NI number for your child and it affects other payments like bereavement payments.

The rules stipulate that you get the bereavement payment if you have children for whom you claim child benefit and there is a smaller payment for people without children. So people with children who don’t claim don’t fall into either category.

You could lose your only/main earner tomorrow and not be entitled to anything!

You can claim child benefit and opt out of payment and that protects NI credits and your children get their NI number automatically at age 16

I don’t really have a lot of sympathy for people who don’t get it. I’d rather earn over £50k and not be entitled to it than earn what I do and get it.

We don't get it but I'm not bothered by those that do. I'm not bothered by people who work less hours in order to get more tax credits or people maximising pension contributions etc to claim the 30 hours.

Thank you Xenia, that's very helpful, l will look into that

I have a question - my DH got a promotion in October that has pushed his salary to around £51k from around £42k. Do I need to do anything now? (like inform the CB people)

I knew we would be affected by this tax but thought it would be based on annual salary (which would be under £50k for this tax year) and we would need to worry about this after April.

I guess we owe some money for the last few months? and would need to do a self assessment for the 2019-2020 year after April

HannaSong if he only went to that salary from October he’s probably ok, assuming he’s paying a pension and doesn’t get any other bonuses or benefits in kind (or car allowance). Worth just making sure though.

Going forwards at £51k he may not have to pay anything back if after pension contributions it’s under £51k. But worth checking & again assuming no bonus etc. Even if he does it will be a small amount so still worth you claiming it.

@HannaSong - worth checking his P60 and P111 when he gets them.

Thanks Boysnme - I'll sit down tomorrow and check everything through! He does get some benefits in kind so guessing that will push him over slightly even with the pension contributions

HannaSong also consider if he does salary sacrifice on any childcare vouchers as that will also reduce it.

It was my bonus that always did it for me. Used to forget I needed to include it!

And deduct charitable donations! Realistically he should be having at least abt 5percent pension contributions so with that and the fact that he changed his pay recently I can't imagine there will be any issue. Check in April on p11d and p60 and you can register for self assessment if needed then. You only pay the tax based on the previous tax yr so you have time.
Also worth determining if increasing his pension contribution (voluntary) would help keep him under the threshold.

Woukd you shop your friend if they put their child benefit and child tax credits into accounts for their children because they earn so much and have lied somewhere along the line?.

How do you know they have lied? Anyone can apply for child benefit regardless of earnings. The higher earner pays back anything owing

I love how people seem to think having a SAHP is a right not a luxury and they're some how disadvantaged by the £50k rule.

But they are disadvantaged by it, there's zero doubt about that. The way in which the system is designed disadvantages single earner households. I speak as someone with a household income of over 50k who still receives full child benefit, because it's split between two earners. And we don't have particularly high working costs either.

Also, having a SAHP isn't automatically a luxury. Being able to choose is the luxury, whether that's work or SAHing.

This is what bugs me about child benefit thing when people start debating it. It isn’t as simple as Comparing having a sahp and two parents working but it always seems to turn into that debate.

You can have two couples working full time ear OMG the same amount before tax. A couple earning 50k each up takes home a lot more money than a couple earning the same say at 75k and 25k. Everyone is working full time. Everyone has to provide full time child care but one couple is penalised twice, firstly they pay more tax overall and then they also lose their child benefit.

More to the point - how many of you knew that if you are getting CB, you don't get any NICs once your kids are over 12? Labour snuck that one in, I think it was wef 2009/2010.

What does that mean @thegcatsmother that if you claim CB you NI contributions stop after your child turns 12. What about if you're working?