Why is hmrc making it so difficult to cancel child benefit?

[squarecorners]

Finances are a hot topic in my house. Husband only just started earning a salary over the threshold to pay back childcare so I rung hmrc to cancel it because it will be me that has to pay it back, and I cant afford it. Even if it technically gets paid back by the high earner it will get clawed back off me by him and I currently cannot afford that (yes yes I know, financial abuse, leave the bastard - there are reasons why I don't want to do that right now so let's set it aside). Hmrc want chapter and verse about why I don't want it- surely with all the austerity they should be glad someone doesn't want to take it? But no, they practically threatened me, telling me my child wouldn't be entitled to this and that if I didn't claim it. I feel pretty annoyed by it to be honest, add to that the fact that they claimed that "because of data protection" different departments in hmrc didn't share info with each other, so all the information that I've just completed last week about eligibility for 30 hours childcare has to be replicated because I don't want money from you??? It's mental. No wonder we've got a financial black hole in this country.

Yeah they can be pretty difficult!
One of my children, went to live with his father, informed hmrc immediately and yet they still paid child benefit over a month later and consequently didn’t pay it to the father, which meant I had to transfer it to him. Rang hmrc thinking there had been a mistake but they said, oh no we pay it to the original recipient for a grace period! I mean, why do that when you’ve been informed the child is no longer there?! Barmy.

At worst and not the easiest solution but could you open new bank account and close the one they pay cb into?

I put mine into premium bonds and then it will come out of there when it needs to be paid back. Doesn't it also count towards your state pension? So if you don't receive child benefit you will lose some state pension credits? Not sure if I have that right?

I deliberately kept it (am single) when I lost it because income varies and I was happy just to pay it back with the tax return each year. Also it keeps your credit for national insurance if you are home with children so I think it's an awful lot safer if you claim it and pay it back but I can see the difficulty here. It was a dreadful dreadful change to the important principle of separate taxation of partners when this child benefit limit came in and lots of people fought hard against it on that basis (as we also fought very hard for separate taxation of husband and wife in the old days) but we lost and it came out as it now stands. It is not good.

I was about to say it will come out of his tax but really he would make you pay it back that is awful

Just wondering if you mean child benefit or child tax credit because you say child benefit but then go on to talk about eligibility for 30 hours child care and that will be nothing to do with child benefit, everyone is entitled to child benefit, if you or a partner earn over £50,000 you must pay it back, I won't go into the specifics because I'm not sure if you really mean child benefit.

If you are getting your ducks in a row it would be utter madness to cancel it... it is the gateway to eligibility for faster state help!

Just keep it and give it back when he does his tax return!

I think you've probably cancelled it now but I would have suggested you just put it to one side each month because you don't know how your financial circumstances are going to change over the remainder of your children's childhood. We still claim even though we pay the whole amount back. Sorry about your DH though.

It only counts to your state pension if you don't work or don't earn enough to pay full national insurance. I had it when I didn't work or worked part time but I'm working full time on a decent ish salary now, which is enough not to miss it but not enough to have money spare in a big chunk when it's asked for back in tax. Husband is generally a twat about finances. He's never contributed to childcare except for about 6 months of childcare vouchers which then stopped because he couldn't be bothered to do the paperwork for them, so I started paying again. I'm not loaded but I now make enough to be in the black month to month and not worry about normal purchases like having to buy new kids shoes etc. When I went from part time to full time I basically went from robbing Peter to pay Paul to having a couple of hundred pounds spare in my account if I didn't go too mad, so I don't want my bit of a buffer wiped out. I'd rather just never see it.

Don't cancel it. It will affect your entitlement to a state pension (and possibly other benefits), as being paid child benefit counts in the same way as paying National Insurance

Sidesoffeet it's the universal child benefit I want cancelled. Husband won't tell me how much exactly he earns, could be just under, could be just over. All children over 3 entitled to 30 hours and we've never had tax credits.

The op pays NI though.

TammyTheWife it won't affect state pension entitlement if I'm working full time and paying full NI.

You know the CB is on a sliding scale so unless he had a massive pay rise unlikely to disappear completely plus he'd actually have to bother to fill in a tax self assessment form...

I really hope you feel able to leave, it sounds pretty miserable

Can’t you not spend it, then you’ll have it to pay back in a lump sum?

Actually ignore the above, you’re right if you’ll have to pay it back anyway you’re better off just not claiming it.

RandomMess at the moment it would be very silly for me to leave. I would be much worse off from having to divide assets and there are some issues that are much easier to deal with if I sit tight for a while yet.
Sometimes just ringing the bell isn't the right solution.

It was pretty simple when I did it a year ago. Just called the helpline and told them to pause it. And they did. No issue, no third degree .

But if it's just over the threshold then you won't have to pay it all back! Keep claiming it, put it all in a separate savings account, and then use that to pay the tax bill.

The tax return is his responsibility, not yours.

@squarecorners good to read that you have your game plan in hand, even it's a few years off - I know how difficult it can be.

I was just contemplating it would be at least a year away before he even filled out his forms!!!

As you pay NI then ignore my point about gettinig NI credit when at home but people generally shoudl be aware Nicky Morgan had to write a public letter recently about this issue - HMRC had said parents at home would keep their NI credit even if they did not get child benefit but that was niot actually happening for new parents so I have concluded it is better always to claim child benefit and then save it and pay it all back if it is due back (if one parent is at home)

Ok, thanks, I personally wouldn't cancel and would just put it in a separate account to give back. It is tapered between £50,000 and £60,000 so not knowing your income, you might still get some. You are right about making difference to national insurance if you pay national insurance anyway, also does child benefit not just pay national insurance credits until a child is 12 so don't know the age of your children.

I'm sure you can suspend the payment online as that's what I did. You still claim but opt out of payment. This protects NI credits too

www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge/stop-child-benefit there is a link on here to do it online

I personally would keep claiming it too and keep it aside - it's entirely his responsibility to declare it on a tax return. It's not quite as simple as between £50 and £60k gross either I think, there are some adjustments taken into account.

I did it online too and it was pretty straightforward.