To not declare for child benefit

[Lauren0000]

I just don't really understand what they are asking me to declare
My wage has just gone up and will be very little under or possible very little over £50k. It's different every month due to shift work so when they are asking what I will earn actually I don't know.
I've just stuck my head in the sand but I know that's probs my foolish.
My husband earns not much so it's quite frustrating to think I will lose the child benefit, considering how much I contribute tax and NI as one person.
What is they want to know? Gross pay before anything comes out?
I get expenses for fuel paid.
I have a work lease car as need it to do my job
I don't know what payments in count?
What about pension payments?
Anyone have a better idea than me please?

Individual

Individual, and yes you will need to. For every £100 over you pay back 1% ie £5100 means 10% so your child benefit is reduced by £9.60 to £86.40. £55k it’s reduced by 50% to £48.

and yes a couple could earn nearly £100k jointly but if both are under £50k then it doesn’t impact child benefit

Remember pension contributions are taken into account. So if your gross wage is say £52k and you contribute 5%, you’re still ok. I would wait until you get your P60 in April and see if you need to do a tax return to pay any back.

I know plenty of people who’ve had letters stating that they’ve not paid it the charge 🤷🏻‍♀️

@FillyFrog see my post just now! It's an utterly unfair system as typically it's the woman who both claims the benefit and earns the lower amount, but (unlike Tax Free childcare) Child Benefit is based on the individual higher earner. I earn £20 somethingk and DH earns just over the threshold that means we have to pay it all back. But if both household members earn £49k (so £98k joint income) they can claim the benefit and not have to pay any back. It's madness.

Yes I’ve seen letters after the event saying people haven’t paid, or querying if people haven’t paid, but going over £50k doesn’t automatically trigger a letter there and then, can be a year or two down the line when the letter goes out and by that time it should have already gone on a tax return and if people have missed then they may have penalties to pay as well as pay the child benefit back. Basically I’m saying don’t wait for a letter from hmrc to tell you you’ve gone over as by that time it will be too late

Also you’re an accountant who didn’t pay the HICBC? Why if you don’t mind me asking?

Important point: some benefits in kind count towards income. I thought I was under £50k, but because I get medical insurance and a car, those BIK values tipped my income over £50k and I had to do a tax return to pay some of the child benefit back.

It's still worth claiming though, some CB is better than nothing, but just do a tax return using your P11D and P60 after tax year end.

Definitely do a tax return. My bil was unaware he was meant to and ended up with a 10k tax bill

I agree btw but it does take time for the letter to be issued as is the case with most things in HMRC.

im not sure if you missed it but why did you not pay your HICBC (if you don’t mind me asking)?

I paid pension contributions to take me below £50k

I pay a lot to charity, so this in addition to my pension contribution, means I don't have to pay the charge. The calculator on the gov website is helpful.

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge

I find the you gov website comprehensive and clear on child benefit and then getting official facts www.gov.uk/child-benefit

@Lauren0000 What is the P11d taxable value on your car? It may be that your actual salary is just under but the car may take you over (as a certain amount of it is classed as a pay increase - just in the form of a vehicle rather than monetary)

What pension contributions do you make OP? They may take you under the threshold. Sorry you're going to be in this position, it's a stupid and unfair system.

Some terrible advice on here. You still have to declare it if your partner earns over the threshold!

I coped the below from the gov.uk site. This to me suggests that if one person earns 50K and the other doesn't, you still have to pay the tax.

'You may have to pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge if you or your partner have an individual income that’s over £50,000 and either:

you or your partner get Child Benefit
someone else gets Child Benefit for a child living with you and they contribute at least an equal amount towards the child’s upkeep
It does not matter if the child living with you is not your own child.'

Not necessarily terrible advice. The OP says her DH earns 'not much' so if he's a very PT low earner, then he might not earn enough to get his NI credits, so would be worth him claiming for that reason alone, even if the OP has to pay back some or all of the CB.

But as is the case on threads like this, always worth checking gov.uk because people always post inaccurate info.

This

It's based on your taxable income, so gross but there are certain allowable deductions. Things such as pensions contributions.

Assuming one employer and no other income streams, if you have a net arrangement pension type you will use the taxable income figure on your P60 and the taxable benefits figure from your P11D form to calculate your liability and complete your self assessment. If you had any deductions other than pension you would need to deduct these too.

If you have a relief at source pension, you will need to use the values on your P60 & P11D, however take away your gross pension contributions, and any other deductions, to get the figure to calculate.

This. I got caught out by this.
was earning 50k but with pension contributions was under. I forgot to include the car, which took me just over then I owed money back

That doesn't make any difference. Once one parent earns over 50k you need to do a tax return and pay some back.

Do it for the National insurance contributions towards your state pension.

This use your p60 figure this will have total gross pay in.

Terrible advice. Entitlement is based on both parents earning less than £50k individually.