Child benefit query variable income, please help!

[bubbakin]

My DH is in sales & his basic salary is pants! However, his commission & bonuses bump his salary up a lot depending on how well he has done. This year he is having a fab year & his income is going to be over 60k (april to April) but this has only been apparent in the last month or so as last month he exceeded his monthly target by miles so has earnt a ridiculous amount. So where do we stand with the new child benefit rule as now we're not going to be entitled to it however next year his money might drop & we will be entitled to it. We also can't say at start or sometimes even halfway through a year if he's going to go over threshold. What do I need to do? Thank you

I'm interested in this too, as DH basic salary is under the threshold, but he's on a bonus scheme. Sometimes he gets one that will push him over the £50k and sometimes he doesn't.

I think we need to continue claiming and he needs to register for self-assessment which will mean he pays back anything we are paid but not due in his tax. Is that right?

I'm really confused too. How do you work out if your taxable income is over £50k. DH has just had a promotion and is on about £52k but uses salary sacrifice to pay for childcare vouchers and for his pension which I think reduce his taxable income?? Confused

Yes, chocchip88, that's right if his salary after tax free deductions (like pension) is under £50k then you don't need to do anything

If he earns over £50k you can claim it and he fills out a self-assesment tax return at the end of the year and he pays some back in tax (on a sliding scale up to all of it at £60k).
So if it looks like its been a good year just put it aside to be paid back. In a tighter year you can spend it.

he fills out a self assessment tax return and that will tell you whether he needs to pay back any of the child benefit

Do you have to register for self assessment now if income for financial yr 12/13 is over 50k or do we register now if think income this financial yr (13/14) is over 50k? Even with pension this financial yr income exceeds 60k but last years was under 50k. My DH has earnt as much in first half of this year as he did in total last year! Hard enough to budget as it is let alone when they might whip cb away/or increase tax to payback cb in year we need it!!

the financial year runs from april to april so will his income from last april to this april have been over 50K?

there is more info here

Register for self-assessment, especially if he is contributing towards a pension and pays tax at the higher rate. He'll be able to claim back the extra tax on any pension contributions (also charitable donations) and the CB will be managed at the same time. You may end up better off.

I can recommend self-assessment software by a company called TaxCalc. Makes online submission very easy and you can have any refunds paid straight into your bank.

looks like today is the deadline for registering for self assessment if you need to self assess for the last tax year.

If you don't already fill in a tax return, you will need to register for Self Assessment.
You can do this by completing the online form SA1 Registering for Self Assessment (see the link below). HMRC will then set up tax records for you.
You need to register as soon as possible and no later than 5 October 2013 for the 2012-13 tax return. If you register late you may have to pay a penalty.
Once your tax records have been set up, you'll be sent a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). You will then be able to sign up for HMRC Online Services and send your tax return online. There are lots of benefits to sending it online. The deadline is 31 January 2014 for the 2012-13 tax return if you send it on online. If you send a paper return the deadline is 31 October 2013 - three months earlier.
If you want HMRC to include the High Income Child Benefit Charge in your tax code rather than paying it separately, you need to send in your return online by 30 December 2013.

Thank you so much. I'm going to register DH for self assessment now & let them do the rest! Yes at the end of financial yr 13/14 DH will have earnt over 60k. He does pay into a pension but we can't afford to up how much he puts in to reduce taxable income as think he's going to way over 60k. However, if next year isn't such a profitable year for us & we're just over threshold then I will get him to do a voluntary pension contribution to bring taxable income down-if we can afford it! Up until last yr DH did self assessment as used to be self employed & had worked abroad etc but they wrote to say no longer need to do self assessment! Typical! Thanks for all your help. X

Ilovepower....thank you very much for link on the other thread. DH all registered for Self Assessment, i even managed to find his old UTR number!! Big relief that's done & I think i've kind of grasped it. Is it worked out a year in arrears like tax code (this year 13/14 tax code was worked out using 12/13 income) so this years self assessment is for income earned in financial yr 12/13 in which my DH earned under the threshold so they won't claim the CB back next year (14/15) through tax however the following year so financial year 15/16 they will claim CB back as income for 13/14 over £60k???? Apologies if i'm making a mountain out of a molehill! I'm confused just rereading this, but you seem to really know your stuff & hopefully can see what I'm getting at!! Thank you