Have just realised I shouldn't be getting child benefit anymore but I am!

[VivaLeBeaver]

Dh has always been a bit reluctant to tell me ow much he earns. We've just remortgaged and I found out. He earns more than I thought and I've just realised I'm still getting CB payments.

I've googled and it looks like I can stop the payments. But what happens about the 5 months worth I've had which I shouldn't?

Also the website says something about carrying on getting it and the high earner can pay a tax charge instead. I'm guessing they claim it back out his wages/tax. To be honest I'd prefer that, but it says he needs to register for self tax assessment. Is that going to be a complicated ball ache?

If he earns over £50k & you have been receiving cb since Jan he will have to self assess for the 2012/13 & 2013/14 tax year. It is his responsibility. whether you choose to stop it is a decision for your family.

We are keeping receiving, partly because I an on mat leave this year so won't breach £50k. But will continue after, keep the money sat offsetting my mortgage then returning when have to (up to 21 months down the line). I am ridiculously disciplined about not spending it though.

As Splatt says, your DH will have to pay tax on the CB you've received. Best way to do this is by filling in a tax return. If he earns over £100k he will already be doing one of those; if not, it takes less than an hour (I've heard people claim 15 mins but even pulling together the paperwork takes (me) longer than that).

All he needs is to register for self-assessment, wait for the username and password, log in and fill in lots of numbers (most of which will be nil). The data he needs is P60 and P11D, plus details of any interest earned on savings accounts, dividends received, other income (child benefit!), etc.

As an aside, if your DH isn't particularly transparent about his finances, would it be sensible for you to keep receiving CB and let him deal with the tax implications on his income?

Thanks. Is he likely to be asked to return the money in a lump sum?

It depends on how much of his wages go into his pension.
My dh earns about 60k but he pays 11% into his pension

I did a calculation on the benefit website which said that we will have to repay about £350

Thanks. He doesn't pay into a pension. Guess he'll have to pay the lot back.

It's a lump sum payment. Check out the moneysavingexpert site. We stick ours in a savings account on their advice.

Oh crap,should we have been self assessing already? I didn't realise.

I'm getting it too because managed to forget to send back paperwork. I assume I'll just do a tax return have it deducted.

Your DH might have to pay it back as a lump sum. Alternatively, he might be able to get his tax code adjusted and pay it back over the year by regular deductions from his pay.

I forget what the limit is for this: £2,000, I think. That is, if the amount owed is less than £2k then it can be paid back via adjustments to the tax code going forward; if more than £2k it has to be a lump sum.

Reminds me that I need to do my tax return for 2012/13 - I owe some tax this year for the same reason.

You are better off still receiving child benefit and then paying it back as it protects your NI contributions (if you are a SAHM).

You can opt out of receiving it without it affecting NI contributions. Well, apparently you can. I'm still going to claim it anyway.

Double checking - in 2012-13, we each got CB for one child but I earnt over the threshold and more than DH - so I pay the charge for both lots of CB, right?

I found out on Tuesday (when I filed my tax return) that because of my basic salary I should not have been receiving cb. I had to declare it all on my return and effectively pay it back. So I phoned the child benefit agency and cancelled it. I had declared jan to April payments on the return, and in next year's return I will have to declare April to august's but after that can state I don't receive it any more.

Hi,

I've just realised that my wife was still receiving CB while I was over the threshold.

Any idea of what I need to do and whether I'm going to be fined?

Thanks

You call hmrc and give them the details. They will send you a self assessment form at the end if the tax year. They will work out how much they want back and his they want it (cheque or take it from your salary).

Apparently lads of people are in the same boat.