Child Benefit changes - arggghhhhh what do we do...

[ByTheWay1]

Hubby earned £49, 760 - last year - civil service so on a pay freeze... BUT part of it is made up of performance related pay which could well be higher this year.. should he do a self assessment?

based on the hmrc leaflet, yes. am very interested how others see it though

Do self asessment. Do not stop claiming benefit. That way if his income drops then the amount clawed bak through tax will be less, but the benefit will be there and you won't have to re claim

Is that figure before or after pension contributions?

As far as I know, he will only have to do a self-assessment if his net adjusted income, i.e. gross income less pension contributions is less than 50k.

My dh is also a civil servant and his pension contributions are increasing again from next April to 7% as part of the pensions reform to public sector pensions. If you work out his potential pension contributions for next year and deduct it from his gross pay, you may find that he is below the 50k threshold anyway.

Hope that helps.

forgot about the pensions increase..... that should bring it well below... thanks...

he might just apply for a self assessment anyhow - can't do any harm.

he might just apply for a self assessment anyhow - can't do any harm.

Except a 100 pound fine if he submits it late...

If/when you go the self-assessment route I'd recommend investing about £25/year in a piece of software called 'TaxCalc'. Makes completing and filing the return very simple.

he might just apply for a self assessment anyhow - can't do any harm.

Probably not, although he has until October to apply so you could wait until you know for certain? Unless there are some expenses he can claim of course - mileage reimbursed at less than 45p per mile and professional memberships are two likely ones, and you should definitely check that his taxable gross pay has been reduced by the full amount of any pension contributions as there are now so many civil service schemes with various AVC options it is difficult to be sure.

Bloody hell this thread has reminded me that I really need to do my tax return.

I would do the self-assessement OP. It isn't hard work