Should we claim Child benefit?

[Desperate2012]

Long story short, both DH and I earn over £60k. We have worked in the premise we aren't eligible so why do the paperwork. Then I heard from someone that they claim despite their DH earnings being well over £60k... So should we be claiming or have we done the right thing not getting into it??

You can claim but opt out of the payment

I was told that claiming makes them aware that you are on mat leave and stops it from negatively affecting your state pension. I don't really understand all that but it seemed quite important to claim it!

Sorry missed out the bit about mat leave and NI payments. Sorry for appalling explanation.

It also means your child/children are registered so they get their national insurance number through automatically when they turn 16

It counts towards national insurance credits if you aren't paying national insurance but maybe not so applicable to the OP as she says she is working

Definitely claim, then use this calculator to decide whether to opt out or not.

OP says they both earn over £60k so if they claim the money they will have to pay all of it back. We decided to opt out of payment but both kids are registered with them

I continued to receive mine after the rules were changed but pay it back through my tax code. I decided it was better that way as if I got made redundant or anything I would still be getting the money.

You would have to do a tax return each year if you claim the money so that you could pay it back

We don't get CB as didn't want the hassle of paying it back. Though we did get it before the rules changed and we we opted out, just requested that we were still registered for it.

Some people still claim it as you get the money in advance and pay it back over a year later without interest. Also if just one parent earns over 60K and the other doesn't work then it ensures the non earners NI contributions are met. Also if salary fell below 60K/redundant etc it would prevent your having to reapply which might be a lengthy process or potentially as with child care vouchers offer reduced benefits for new applicants in the future. However you would need to check if it would mean you would have to do a tax return. It would be a very simple tax return though.

rule of thumb = claim
even if you have to repay

You can claim without getting the money so that's what we do.

The higher earner only would need to complete a tax return and pay 100% tax on it if his or her earnings are £60k+.

There are NI benefits to being "on the system". AS others said.

If the highest earner pays into a pension, this reduces the amount of tax he or she would have to pay. So, if he or she earns £61k and pays £5k into a pension, the income for Ch Ben tax purposes would be £56k, and the tax liability would be less than 100% (therefore Ch Ben is definitely worth claiming). Gift aid and job expenses can also be used to reduce the income figure. There's a calculator on HMRC website.