Child benefit tax

[What0nEarthIsThis]

Hi,

I just read in the financial times that parents whose spouses earn >£60k a year have to file a tax return every year to pay back all their child benefit. The article says that that rule has been in place for about 10 years and if we did not do it then we have to still pay it back now, but we also have to pay the interest on the money.

It says if we give up having child benefit entirely then we won't get state pension credits for the time we are at home with kids.

I'm staggered. I had no idea about that.

I'm a SAHM and I have no income of my own. I don't file a tax return and don't know about tax rules. I never looked into them because I have no income to pay tax on.

I'm also properly cheesed off because life is so hard with the underfunding of the schools and the medical services, and now this comes along to add insult to injury.

I wondered if anybody else knew? And what do you think about it?

The article is called "Why Jeremy Hunt’s parent tax rate is proving controversial" but it's behind a paywall so I can't share it.

https://www.ft.com/content/08f678d7-1ac2-4f9d-86c9-3da040ca4107

Thanks!

Does the net adjusted include student loan repayments or just pension?

I didn't think it included pension contributions though...so I'm sure you can deduct that from your salary? I think I worked out I'd be able to earn £55k before being unable to claim it.

I could well be wrong though!

Student loan isn’t included, use this calculator - https://www.rossmartin.co.uk/income-claims-reliefs/1448-adjusted-net-income

Your contributions to a workplace pensions are included!

Not sure what CD is, so going to assume typo for CB.

How can she still receive CB on a salary of £60k just because she has the children and is now single? That’s not how it works. That’s exactly why people are saying it is unfair.

Sorry to piggyback on this post. I'm a SAHM but recieve child benefit. My husband has just informed me the other day that he earns over 50k. I always thought it was 45k, and was aware of the 50k threshold. Looking at these comments, I'm unsure if I need to do a tax return or he does? I know this is my fault but I have no access to what my husband earns because he has his own bank account, not a joint one. My child benefit is really the only money I get so I'm really worried if I have to pay it all back!

Can anyone help at all?

@Tulip2478 your husband needs to fill in a tax return. For the tax year starting tomorrow the threshold is increasing to £60k.

You won't need to pay it back. He needs to declare it on his tax form, and will have his tax slightly adjusted. NB that it was clawed back on a sliding scale between 50K and 60K for previous tax years, so if he earned, say, 52 thousand it's still well worth you claiming.

OP - I really hope you take this learning experience as a slap with a wet fish eye opening you needed.
You cannot afford to be a sahm and this ignorant about financial affairs. What if he drops dead? What if he divorces you? Your ni/state pension would have been affected if you'd not claimed it.
For goodness sake get more switched on. Do you know the details of his pension? How would you be financially if he died? Have you got your own pension and if not why not?
Learn from this. Nothing wrong with being a sahm but you cannot be so blaise about the financial element of your life.

yep this all started years ago my kids in their 20s now. One other thing that was not clear is that you only get the NI credits until children are 12 years old.

Yes I'm aware I'm as not financially savvy as I should be.
It's a bit complicated really. I'm not lazy I worked and paid my own way until we got married, but as I rented couldn't afford to get on the property ladder. He is older than me so the mortgage I.e. is in his name. I am actually going back to work for 15 hours a week soon as a carer in the NHS. I was aware of the 50k threshold but was told he earns 45k, so I wasn't completely naive. I have no access to his money he has his own account so I genuinely didn't know. If he dies he has life insurance.

I have posted on here a while ago about my concerns around his control of the finances (not sure under which name) which explains it all a bit more. But thanks for your concern.