Child Benefit once over threshold?

[BoyMeetsWorld]

Hi sorry to be stupid but I'm really confused and the girl on the phone at HMRC has just confused me even more.

We've got 2 kids, both DH and I work full time and are both just below 50k each gross so have always been fine for the threshold. I get the standard 136.50 pm child benefit which is all I get as 'my' £ each month, everything else goes into the bills, kids, mortgage, food yada yada.

For the first time this year, DH has been in a job that also pays commission. These are not guaranteed and vary massively month by month, year on year. In this year just gone though he's had about 6k of bonus on top of his 50k gross salary...taking him over the threshold.

To my understanding, that means for the next tax year we need to pay back some of my child benefit.

Please can you help me figure out:
a) how to work out how much to pay back as I think it's only a proportion, not the entire amount
b) when we need to pay it by
c) does it need to be paid as a lump sum or can it be deducted from future child benefit / salary
d) how the heck we manage this going forward assuming DH stays in this job

I know we're very lucky to be in this position (although where we live in the South East it doesn't go far, believe me!) but I really do wish they just automatically deducted it from what I get instead of making us figure it out and have to pay back a huge lump sum I may not have...

He needs to register for self assessment and fill in a tax return. Depending on when he submits the form it can be paid back through his tax code or if he's too late for that it would be paid in a lump sum.

I used to do it via the tax assessment. You declare your earnings and the child benefit and they tell you how much to pay or adjust your tax code

www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge

Tax assessment needs to be submitted on paper by end of October or online by end of January following the end of the financial year. So for this tax year 2018-19 it would be October 2019 or January 2020. The form helps work out how much is repayable and that is required in a lump sum by end of January. It is still worth receiving payments if the earnings are variable, then repaying what is required.

You can use the online calculator, for £6k over threshold you’ll have to pay back at least £1k of CB.

www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-calculator/main

Thank you, id always thought the self assessment was for if you are self employed...he's fully employed so it doesn't make sense why his HR don't handle this along with the rest of payroll but I will look into it. How will it work though if it is him submitting self assessment yet the benefit payment goes to me, not him?

If you submit by end of December I think you can pay it back through your tax code rather than in a lump sum

Higher rate tax payers are often required to complete a SA. Child benefit is not part of paye just like income from savings, investments etc.

It's whoever the higher earner is that does the tax return. If you keep taking the child benefit then that's what needs to be done to pay back what is owed. Doesn't matter that he's not self employed and that the child benefit goes to you

Nothing to do with HR tbh

My dh does self assessment due to his salary. We don't claim child benefit and he's not self employed either

Ok thank you- so does he need to complete by this Dec in relation to the year just past (2018)?

It doesn’t matter who actually gets the child benefit the higher rate tax payer pays it back through their self assessment.

Lots of employed higher rate tax payers have to do a self assessed tax return, it’s quite common.

I’d start putting the child benefit away into a separate account. Then at the end of the tax year you will have your lump sum to pay back, or if you haven’t gone over the threshold you’ve got a tidy sum for holidays or christmas.

Even in the SE £136/month won't be keeping you from starving if you’re earning c.100k/year , no matter how much you profess to be struggling.

Not sure why you think losing £136 a month is worrying when you're on £106k...? I earn 17k and live in Zone2 you must think I'm in dire poverty!

Wisewoman 106k “doesn’t go far” in the SE though

Zone 2 is London and obviously you’ll be in a council house with lots of benefits and no commute to work/school so probably have more disposable income than o/p.

Bet you have a massive flat screen telly. A BMW too?

I’m on 19k and the CB covers my beer and fags easily. It’s “my” money, after all, mot for the childrens benefit or anything.

He must call as soon as he realises and declare it (to avoid a fine) it's clawed back as extra tax on him. But only income after pension counts, so it's not straightforward gross salary. As we were pretty much at £60k last year and down to one eligible kids I cancelled it completely rather than mess around

last year was the first year DH went over the threshold (mainly because of his company car that 'counts' as £10k income and having a big payrise. so we have to pay back about 1/4 of the childbenefit we had recieved. this has been done through his tax code this year.
This year we knew that he has a £5k retention bonus coming so we will also have to pay back most if not all of the benefit so we have been buying premium bonds with it each month and when it comes to it we can then just pay it all back (and theres a chance we may win a prize in the meantime!!)

If you earn only just over-eg £50,500, how much would you need to pay back?

If you earn only just over-eg £50,500, how much would you need to pay back?

If you just earn over then increase your pension contributions to take you below again.

It's 1% for every £100 over £50k so 5% of £500 in your case. You can increase pension contributions to take you under the threshold again I think

I find all this really confusing. My DP pay was £50k from June but he's just been made redundant. He paid pension contributions but also received some overtime payments. Presumably he'll need to do a self-assessment by Jan just in case we owe anything?

OH earns over 60k now, I earn 12k. But he keeps me short of money will only pay for food, elect bills etc. I have to pay for sky, phone, my car, birthday xmas presents. Anything for children. Does this affect my child benefit for one child.

When would he have gone over the threshold as he should have registered this October if it was in the tax year April 2017- April 2018. If he didn't go over it until after April 2018 then he would register by October 2019

madmum he should be registering for self assessment as it will likely need to all be paid back if he earns over £60k