About child benefit

[Cherrychocchip]

I have 2 children. Usually claim benefit for both. Obviously the eldest gets the higher rate and the youngest the lower.
Eldest has now left education so no longer entitled to it. The youngest child is now the only child on the claim but they remain on the lower rate only. I expected them to get paid the higher rate as if it were another family with 1 child that would be the case iyswim?

Oh I’m in same situation
I thought I’d get higher rate too.
Great even less money !!

I get the higher rate for my youngest since my eldest left home.

They do get the higher rate. This happened to me this year.

I think this is a mistake. Once you stop getting CB for one child, the higher rate goes automatically to the next oldest. I'd phone them up and ask what's happened here.

You definitely get the £80ish for one child and then additional £50ish for 2. It doesn’t matter when they leave home, it’s for the number of children.

Have you queried it? My daughter left school last year and my son now gets the higher rate.
Unless this a new thing they've bought in this year?

I’ve got 4 and eldest gets the higher amount now my eldest has left home,

Thanks all. Managed to finally get through on the phone and it's an error. You do get the higher amount for the remaining child.

This is an interesting tax case on "discovery assessment" . Here the husband's part time piano teacher wife discovered this legal/tax issue and won against HMRC. However even so HMRC could then assess people by a different route
on.ft.com/36IfQrN

www.ft.com/content/338fd96d-882e-4da9-b790-0a2094a37d90

Xenia that's very interesting (can't read 2nd link) and I wasn't aware of it.

Might not be relevant to this thread, but worth a thread of its own.

2nd link is same as first. I did think of a separate thread but HMRC say even if all these cases were wrongly done they could still restart them using the right procedure instead so I suspect loads of MN people would NOT win money back.

I'm not sure they wouldn't be out to time to reopen though? Discovery can go back further I thought.
Be interested to hear what our CPD makes of it on next update.

Child Benefit will stop for your eldest end of August. Then the next child will get the next high benefit.