To be pissed off about paying back child benefit

[pinotnow]

I am in a sector that was awarded a pay rise this year - though our union is fighting for a higher one. The rise was from September but our school (yes, it's teaching) didn't pay it until November when we got months at once. HR always send us a pay statement at this time of year and I have just opened mine and seen I am now on approx £52k (been teaching 18 years and am head of a core subject in a large secondary school). I understand I now have to pay back some of my child benefit. This is a pisser as things are pretty tight and I'm a lone parent who gets no CM (ex is a total waste of space - I've gone through CMS). Also, I wasn't expecting it this year (I was on £49k last year and now I'm worried I've missed some sort of deadline for paying it back as technically I've been on this for 5-6 months, but only just realised.

I really haven't got the head space for this now and a quick Google has just brought confusion. As soon as you move forwards a bit in this shithole country you move backwards it seems. Any advice would be great!

@Dobby123456 maybe but I have read about HMRC having clampdowns on this for time to time. It’s easy pickings ….they just cross refer who claims child benefit with their P60 for the year.

Ah, I see! To be more accurate, my partner had a payrise that took us over, which took me a while to realise because, of course, I don't get his payslips! Because we're both earners I was all ready to pay it back, including any fines or interest, but she wasn't interested and hung up on me. Just another example of two income households having it easy!

@Dobby123456 agree that she doesn’t need to worry but it’s easier just to do the self-assessment. Takes me 20 minutes and is worth it considering I have only been required to pay a small proportion of the child benefit back. I only stopped claiming mine once I started earning too much to put the extra in my pension.

Maybe go to a country where it really is a shithole. Line up for food and receive scant medical treatment. You are being ridiculous. Maybe you will have to go without a holiday to pay back the money, so sad.
You should have been putting that money away until you knew for certain what to do about it.

Yes, agree, she needs to look into this properly. The little I would have been allowed to keep just wasn't worth it me. I would have had the faff of filling in the self-assessment, and I also didn't trust myself not to spend the money! Everyone's situation is different, though.

Given the existential threat of overpopulation, it is absolutely bonkers to be incentivising people to have children. Different thing altogether to help ensure the ones already here don't live in poverty.

Overpopulation is due to the ageing population. Birth rates are low here.

@Lapland123 There are other ways to tackle that than by encouraging people to have as many babies as there are older people. All that does is keep the pyramid growing.

What are the other ways to tackle this?

Ring HMRC as they’re helpful. DH had a pay rise that lifted him to about £56k and after his pension deductions etc we get to keep roughly half of the child benefit and have to repay about half.

that apparently doesn’t come into effect until April. We plan on putting half the child benefit from each payment into an isa ready to repay it in April.

@Lapland123 Off the top of my head, I'd try major societal reform to enable more people to remain productive for longer (rather than retiring from all economic activity for 20-30 years), major reform of the care system to make it more attractive as a career choice and reduce its impact on primary healthcare, a national and sensible conversation about what life-prolonging treatments should be funded, a national and sensible conversation about voluntary euthanasia, and better immigration policies. I'd try any or all of those before financially incentivising people to make global overpopulation worse. I'm not saying this is definitely the answer - I'm not that arrogant - but I think we're overly wedded to the idea that the answer to everything is just more babies.

I doubt if your taxable income will be high enough to affect CB.

fitzwilliamdarcy

I wish you were in charge of this country!
impressed!

We lost it a few years ago. Originally we saved it up today it back but it was too much if a hassle so just cancelled it. We manage ok without it but it is annoying that friends if ours were on much higher joint income but could still claim it.

I had similar but not quite as bad. I worked an extra day last year as my employer requested it for training. I get tax credits and in doing so was getting nhs cost exemption. My additional day took me £20 over the annual amount for the nhs exemption and I didn’t realise until I got a fine and was told to pay it and pay back my dental check cost. They send out a little letter every 6 months and no longer send the exemption card to take and show. I’d filed away the letter and hadn’t realised I wasn’t sent a new one.

YANBU. I've been a single parent and although my earnings didn't reach the threshold for reducing child benefit it really pissed me off to think I would be penalised while two parent families could earn way more than me and still get benefit. Child Benefit (or Family Allowance) was never meant to be means tested. What's more, the default was for it to be paid to mothers. This was in recognition that men were usually higher earners, but their children didn't always take priority where some men's spending was concerned. Sadly, while no doubt many blokes do take their responsibilities seriously, there are still many who do not. So children, via their mothers not receiving financial support, are losing out. I detest what our country has become.

You just need to do an on line self assessment. I've done it for the past 2 years - the first year I earnt over £50k & they paid me £85 back due to my pension payments. This year I owed them £1.26. It's easy to do & you'll probably find you don't need to pay much back anyway.

If it was this September then it’s not this tax year. Also you have the option to pay more money into a teacher pension. scheme I think it’s a slightly different one to your usual one, look at the posters at school they usually advertise it) this will bring your salary down to below the threshold. Your pension provider should also claim 20% back and add it to the pension pot. You will have more pension money and won’t have to pay child benefit back. Done

That's terrible. I only they've got to have a cut off somewhere, but they need to come up with a more human system so people don't get fined for this kind of simple mistake.

Well yes... 2 steps forward, 3 steps back. Congrats on the pag rise. You will only have to pay it back in a tax return which will be end of this year....
This country wants to tax the hell out of people that work hard and try to do well for themselves. I'm not saying lower paid workers don't work hard- they do, there's a bit of luck and timing involved too
No doubt many will soon be shouting on here u earn a VERY high wage so stop moaning . I am not in teaching but I agree with how you feel and hope someday it will be rewarded to be doing well, and not PENALISED

It also doesn't take into account how many children you have, so you can he a single parent with 3 children and get 0, while a double income family with 1 child gets the full amount.

Really? 1 person earning x let's say 50k is worse off that 2 people earning 25k each because of tax brackets. In fact single earner is over £350 worse off! They are also often worse off that they need wrap around care for the child whereas 2 parents can often juggle better and rotate hours, pick ups/ drop off and holiday time for the kids. Mumsnet seems to be obsessed with supposed high earners. 50k down south barely touches the sides.

Exactly- and that single parent family with 3 kids might need childcare and the double earner family (both say on 49k) with 1 child might have grandparents next door that do all the childcare for free. Its just a totally unfair system that needs urgent reform.

Nice little scam you've got going there.

Ive heard they're quite reasonable about this stuff

Call up, be honest. Sound stressed and distressed

They will let you set up a plan or even waiver it