High income child benefit charge

[MyPurpleHeart]

Hi everyone

Looking for someone to dumb down this for me because I don't understand

I haven't claimed child benefit since my 6 week old was born as the combined income between me and DH is too high. I was told you'd have to pay it back so I thought that's just a faff and I won't bother even applying

Although now I've read that this affects pension contributions and DD getting a national insurance number when she's older.

Can someone explain it to me in layman's terms please because I'm lost

Thankyou

It's also an interest free loan. Not very relevant for the last few years, but you could make money on it now. Self assessment deadline is 10 months after the end of the tax year so you could get 16 months interest.

You need to register and then just opt out of receiving the payments. I made the mistake of not doing this with my first child and then it was an issue when I tried to claim the 30hrs free childcare when they turned 3 - because I hadn't registered, my child didn't exist on the relevant systems! You can do it online now.

Yes, this is a good idea I read about - claim it, whack it in an ISA and then pay it back after doing the self assessment. Keep the interest.

Whether you claim and get paid or not be aware that it only covers contributions up until the child is 12, I didn't know that and have to pay 6 year's contributions to ensure I get a full state pension,

We filled out the form and said we don't want it which is such a silly system.

Yes. We're always surprised how much we get to keep. If you're paying 10% pension, you can earn c.£55k gross before you lose any CB.

More and more people are reaching the higher income bracket and are getting caught out with the repayment and fines. This income limit has not been changed for 10 years, if it is was in line with inflation it should be around 65k. This petition is worth signing! HICB tax charge petition