Child Benefit: is there any point?

[Carpetdrought]

I’ve put this off for three years now as both myself and DH are over the 60k mark but should I be claiming CB and then paying it back? I’ve struggled to see the point when we have to pay it back for the effort of investing, cashing in any investments and then self assessment each year.

Am I missing a trick? Is not claiming detrimental to my child in anyway?

I think it's only helpful to claim and repay if one person wouldn't get Class 1 NIC in their own right because they are at home with the children. If you get Class 1 NIC through your employer, there's no advantage.

You can register and opt out of payments so you don’t have to worry about self assessment.

It’s worth doing it because it contributes to NI credits and it means your child is automatically registered for their NI number.

You can "claim" it and choose not to receive it; you then simply get the NI credits. This is of benefit for a partner who isn't working or during a gap in work.

If you are working and expect to be for the foreseeable, there's not really any benefit except for the child automatically getting their own NI number at sixteen.

It's worth registering but not claiming, as it automatically triggers an NI number for your child at 16 (and provides NI credits if the claimer isnt working)
It's not worth getting the money and repaying it unless you love filling in self assessment tax forms!

I didn’t know this was an option @ostryga @peonytime Thank you! The potential returns on £1000 a year just doesn’t make me want to jump through the paperwork hoops. There must be a way to get an NI number for a kid without this scandal of a system.

No benefit at all if you both earn a decent amount.

I find the idea that you should do admin every year (for the CB) to save a small amount of admin when your child is 16 (for their NI number) bizarre.

zarene it’s not a small bit of admin if one or more parents are foreign born. Mistakes happen to easily. Ds2 born here, mother born here pre 83 and was still deemed illegal when we tried to get a second passport.

Op just tick box saying no money.

Also our local council won’t issue a school place unless you have a child benefit letter.

The only other thing to check would be, the 60k limit is after pension payments, so if you are both only a little over you may still have a reduced entitlement.

@Zarene

No benefit at all if you both earn a decent amount.

I find the idea that you should do admin every year (for the CB) to save a small amount of admin when your child is 16 (for their NI number) bizarre.

I don't think it's bizarre. It proves your child is entitled to an NI number from a very early age....suppose at some point the rules change and only people who have been resident and have a UK NI number for x many years are entitled to something eg university loans, or even full pensions in years to come? Where having an NI number from early on would be easy, instant proof.

Rules are always changing, when I left school I was told I was supposed to retire on a full pension at 60. It's now 67. Will it remain 67 before I get to 67? I suspect in the light of the pandemic and the fact that once again pensioners have been allowed another increase that quite possibly a couple of years more will be added between now and then.

@Zarene

No benefit at all if you both earn a decent amount.

I find the idea that you should do admin every year (for the CB) to save a small amount of admin when your child is 16 (for their NI number) bizarre.

Entirely my school of thought! Circumstances will no doubt change before he gets to 16 anyway. I can’t work like this forever

@Zarene

No benefit at all if you both earn a decent amount.

I find the idea that you should do admin every year (for the CB) to save a small amount of admin when your child is 16 (for their NI number) bizarre.

If you opt out of payment then you don't need to do admin every year as you arent getting any money. Your child get registered in the system and gets their NI number automatically at age 16.

No point if you are a high earner, I calculated I was eligible for about £12 a week so I'm opting for the tax free childcare instead (LO starts nursery in January). Much more worth it for us.

@Charlotte2020 you should still register for CB and opt out of payment if you don't need the money

Why cant you have child benifit and tax free childcare?

@Charlotte2020

No point if you are a high earner, I calculated I was eligible for about £12 a week so I'm opting for the tax free childcare instead (LO starts nursery in January). Much more worth it for us.

You can claim child benefit and tax-free childcare at the same time. You don't have to choose between them

Why don't you up your pension payment so your taxable income is

@daffyluck I thought if they were under 2 it was one or the other?

@charlotte2020 - no child benefit and tax free childcare have no interactions. You can claim them both.

You can't claim tax free childcare and tax credits (working tax credit and child tax credit) or universal credit, perhaps that is what you are thinking of.

This change to the universal benefit has been a MASSIVE cock up (and predictably so too).
Not sure what to advise...

It’s decided then. I’ve already have enough with fighting with the gov.Uk portal to pay nursery every month. Please enter your 16 digit zodiac sign from the rising moon of your birth animal followed by the name of the cat that shit outside the first house you lived in.

One thing to consider, if your child is looked after by a family member who doesn't build up their own NI record (through working or state benefits) then you can claim the CB NI credits and because you don't need them (because you are building up NI credits through work) you can pass your "extra" NI credits to them.

Interest free credit