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Original poster

I've been claiming child benefit over last 3 years when earing over £50,000

88 replies

francis15 · 18/01/2018 07:45

To cut a long story short I’ve been earning over £50,000 The last 3 years but I never knew about the child benefit needing to stop.I’m not making excuses I just wasn’t wise to this.I realised this when a friend mentioned it and I went straight online to fill my self assessment in but I’m worried sick.I really am.How much will I be likely to be fined for this.I’ve looked at some websites and it could be £6,000-£8,000 according to some.Has ANYBODY been in this situation?
My last tax year I earned £64000
Previous was £52000
And previous to that was £52000.
I was below £50000 before that.
PS I'm NOT trying to worm my way out of this I just want to know what the outcome will be regarding fines etc

OP posts:
mishfish · 19/01/2018 18:26

Going forwards its far better never to claim it in the first place

I read earlier that you should still make a claim even though you’re not entitled as it protects your state pension credits

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/family/2016/11/new-parents-lose-278m-in-state-pension-payments-due-to-child-benefit-changes/amp

Forkrightorf · 19/01/2018 19:44

@LIZS DC are 6,4 & 1. I'm pretty sure we cancelled the whole claim, I've never had a letter or email or anything since we paid back the overpayment. They get in touch annually if you're claiming don't they? I certainly haven't told them about DC 2 and 3 arriving.

StealthPolarBear · 19/01/2018 19:56

"
I read earlier that you should still make a claim even though you’re not entitled as it protects your state pension credits"
That doesn't apply to pp surely.
The issue with stopping claiming is you're still chased to do a sodding tax return!

badass80 · 19/01/2018 21:09

So a level of naivety for me! I’ve just RTFT and I need to know what to do in my situation?

I stopped claiming or receiving in Jan 16 but I don’t actually know what my husband’s income was so it might be that I need to pay back from when it came in.

So if I owe for 1 DC from Feb ‘13 to Jan ‘16. Does anyone know how much I’ll pay back? I’ll need to ask HMRC to look at my husband’s P60? I’ve asked him and he hasn’t kept them. But I could have 3 years to pay and will I pay penalties and interest on this?

I calculated the CB alone is £3,300 to pay back I’ve just gone over my bank account - but I guess that also depends on what the P60 of my husband shows.

mishfish · 19/01/2018 21:48

stealth

Do you still get chased for a self assessment if you’re claiming the zero rate of CB? The information in the link I posted indicated that claiming the zero rate would protect your state pension benefits and be an alternative to paying the tax on the excess child benefit received through self-assessment. I mainly mentioned it as a PP said it was best not to claim at all, but I read that has meant that many people have missed out pension credits, so thought it was worth mentioned

Doesn’t help the OP in this situation though!

badass80 · 19/01/2018 21:52

We’ve never been sent a notice to self assess. Need to get DH net income for those dates. Sorry OP total high jack I should start my own thread

mishfish · 19/01/2018 21:56

badass I think they want you to decide whether you need to self assess rather than them chase

SouthWestmom · 19/01/2018 22:19

Badass the liability is your husbands - he needs to ring and ask about it. He must know what he earns more or less.

badass80 · 19/01/2018 22:51

Ok thank you for the advice! I was getting paid it and never told him so he never knew. In reality I don’t know how we were so oblivious to it. I only worked it out after having my second and realising I hadn’t applied and seeing that omg I was getting CB when I shouldn’t have been!

SouthWestmom · 19/01/2018 23:27

Does he know? If it's, what, 20 x 52 that's 1040? If he earns over £60k he needs to pay that back. Best thing is for him to note what he earns each tax year and whether there's a need to pay some/all back and then ring the revenue.

badass80 · 20/01/2018 11:00

Yes I told him last night.
So he’s stressing!

We could have fines on top of what we will have to repay.

Will phone on Monday

badass80 · 20/01/2018 11:43

Hi contacted them today and they were really helpful.

We have to fill in self assessment details for 2 years. It appears we were entitled for one year where I thought we weren’t! This is what happens when you don’t know what one person earns and we just don’t talk about it!

DH will have to fill in self assessments for those two years and they said we shouldn’t get penalties. We will have to write to them to explain we were u aware and have contacted them as soon as we realised!

Thank goodness for this article!

AndWhat · 20/01/2018 12:39

I thought we would have to pay some back as OH hit 53k but as he was getting childcare vouchers and pension cont we are entitled to it. If you make any salary sacrifices take them off first.

bustedwomb · 20/01/2018 13:19

roomba ... really sorry if this sounds stupid. I am married but my husband has claimed the child benefits for our two children all their lives. 14 &7. Are you saying I should have it in my name due to me being a SAHM? As in I will have no pension when I am due? I've worked off and on but for the most part of the kids lives I've been a SAHM. Not sure if it makes a difference but I am not from the U.K., but I live here and have a settlement visa.

badass80 · 20/01/2018 13:25

Yes we do get childcare vouchers and also pension so anyway it’ll all be online we are hoping and so can work out how much we owe.

I’m hoping it will be tapered too

k2p2k2tog · 20/01/2018 13:27

it can be worth claiming it and repaying it if you are a SAHM as it protects your NI contributions and counts towards your state pension

That depends. I was claiming Child Benefit for my child born in 2003. As soon as the rules changed we stopped - couldn't be faffed with the extra mess with tax codes and so on. Because I was registered as claiming CB for him from 2003 my NICs appear to have been protected from that date on.

You can log into your personal tax record on the Government Gateway, see how many years NICs you have and how many you need to take you to your state pension age. Do that first and see where you stand rather than assuming you have to faff with tax returns when you might not have to.

bustedwomb · 20/01/2018 14:09

I'm actually very worried now. I signed up for that government gateway account and it has predicted my pension of £156 a week. How would I live on this? I've fucked my future being a SAHM. I will be drumming this into my DD head once she becomes a mum. I don't want her life to turn out like mine.

LIZS · 20/01/2018 14:19

It would be worth changing the registration for your youngest to your name to accrue at least another 5 years's worth of ni credits. Have you ever worked and paid into a pension. Could you start a private fund or investment now? Noone is likely to be able to live off a government pension alone in the future. Would your dh not have a pension too? If that really is all you receive with minimal savings or property, at present there are top-ups but suspect this will decline with the cost of an ever-ageing population.

TalkinPeace · 20/01/2018 20:10

busted
surely you will be entitled to part of your partner's pension ?
How are you living as an SAHP if there is no decent income coming in?
And your other half has to have a pension if they are employed

StealthPolarBear · 21/01/2018 11:02

Does he have to have one or does his workplace have to offer one, which he can decline? I can't remember

TalkinPeace · 21/01/2018 12:34

THey have to offer
and re offer every few years
and report to the regulator all those who opt out

and anybody on a decent salary not taking employer contributions is a twonk IMHO
(low paid its a different issue)

VienneseFingers · 21/01/2018 13:12

Just a note to add to this thread, I BELIEVE that your NI contributions for your state pension are only protected if you are claiming CB for a child under 12, not if your child is older than 12.

LIZS · 21/01/2018 13:13

Yes it stops at 13th bday.

bustedwomb · 21/01/2018 20:37

Thanks, I'll get DH to phone tomorrow and see if we can get some of the years backdated to me, or at the very least I'll have the next five years for my DD. DH gets a pension from his work, but I thought that would be his pension only, it's not me who earned it.

LIZS · 21/01/2018 20:39

There should be a spousal pension attached to his pension fund should he predecease you. Make sure you are named as next of kin.