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Original poster

Help! Being charged high income child benefit charge

67 replies

Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:02

I just wondered whether anyone had been in the same position as this – today we got a letter from HMRC saying we owe more than £7000 in high income child benefit charge from April 2013 until now. But we haven’t received any child benefit! We last received it in 2012 after my second child was born it stopped because I remember the rules changing. I guess we’ll have to try the dreaded 0300 helpline number this week. If we’ve obviously had no deposit into our bank account do people think this would be easy to sort? Slightly stressful after Christmas and also my previous issues with HMRC have taken two years to sort out.

OP posts:
OneThingAndThenTheNext · 30/12/2018 18:03

It didn’t automatically stop, you had to contact them to stop it, did you do that?

dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:04

Did you actually stop the payment as it doesn't stop automatically, you have to opt out of payment

Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:09

I don’t remember opting out - its my husbands NI number it’s relatinf to. But if he didn’t opt out, where is the money?!!

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:12

You better check the bank account as if you didn't opt out the money will have been getting paid somewhere. Your dh will need to contact CB to find out the account it's being paid to if it's under his details

dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:14

Is your dh the high earner? The CB could be under your details but he would still get the high income charge as he is the higher earner. If you aren't working then you should be claiming CB but opting out of payment to protect your National Insurance credits

Seniorschoolmum · 30/12/2018 18:15

If you didn’t opt out, payments will have continued as previously. Check your account statements for regular monthly payment of about £130.

DustyMaiden · 30/12/2018 18:15

Mine is still being paid but gets adjusted when I do tax return so I don’t owe anything. I did have a letter saying I owed money, it is sorted now.

Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:16

We’ll have to look at accounts. I wonder whether it’s being paid directly into an old
Post office account of the kids. We’ve moved house so quite possibly mail could have gone there. It couldn’t have come off a tax code could it?!

OP posts:
Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:17

Thanks dementedpixie I’m going to look into accounts tonight - you seem to know a lot more than me about it, I’m useless!

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:18

Why would you have it paid into a child account? In order for it to come off a tax code, the higher earner would need to complete a tax return and declare the child benefit in order to pay it back

dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:20

I only know about it because I opted out of payment when dh went over the threshold. I filled in the child benefit form for my 2 kids but opted out of getting the payment. The alternative is to keep getting the money but then the higher earner pays back some or all of it through a tax return

namechangedtoday15 · 30/12/2018 18:23

As pp says, it will still have been paid unless you opted out and if it was still paid, your H should have completed a self assessment form so its claimed back through his tax code.

Quartz2208 · 30/12/2018 18:30

Either you are being paid it somewhere (in which case it should total more (with interest) then you have been given

Or you have not and its a mistake

Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:32

What I just can’t work out is where it is being paid into?! It’s certainly not our joint account. I’ll have to get my husband to find them and ask what account they think it is going into. Thanks for all the replies. Makes me think that I have opted out but he hasn’t and he is the higher earner now I’m part time

OP posts:
Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 18:32

*phone not find!

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:34

Only the person named on the CB form can opt out and that may not be the person paying the high income charge

dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:36

Do you have any child benefit paperwork as that will say who the named person was? I was the person claiming the CB so it was me that opted out of payment even though it would be dh that was the higher earner

DontCallMeBaby · 30/12/2018 18:37

One person would have previously received the child benefit - it’s not a case of one person opting out and the other not, it’s paid per child, you can’t both claim.

If whoever’s name it was in didn’t phone up and say ‘I no longer wish to receive child benefit’ it’ll have gone somewhere - the good news is provided you can track it down you ought to have no trouble paying it back as it’ll all be sitting there.

dementedpixie · 30/12/2018 18:37

Do you have an old account that you used before 2012 That is still active?

FloralCup · 30/12/2018 18:47

Which account was it paid into previously? It is most likely still going into that account.

Ta1kinPeace · 30/12/2018 19:20

Oldtiger
I'm getting MEGA deja vu on this thread
did you ask exactly the same question last year ?

ButterflyWitch · 30/12/2018 19:27

This thread has me worried. We claimed CB for a few months when I was made redundant but thought you had to re-apply if wanted to continue - we didn’t opt out but we’ve not received any more payments? Argh! Hoping I don’t get same letter as OP!!

VioletCharlotte · 30/12/2018 19:30

Are you sure it's not a scam? Was it a posted letter or an email? I would phone them (google the number rather than relying on the one on the letter).

ButterflyWitch · 30/12/2018 19:40

Ah feck. I’ve found a monthly payment for 82.80 - does that sound like child benefit? I’d no idea.... sorry to hijack your post OP but if anyone has any idea about what that likely means for me re tax bill I’d be grateful..... should I expect to pay it all back? (No issue with this as I must owe it and didn’t realise we were automatically claiming) can I pay it back over time or will they expect one full payment?

Original poster
Oldtiger · 30/12/2018 19:40

No I don’t think it’s a scam- it’s got lots of detail, correct NI insurance etc. Oh that’s interesting Ta1kin I’ll have to search. Nope, first time I’ve posted on this
Honestly it was so long ago that I can’t remember what account it was paid into- it’s going back 6/7 years.

OP posts:
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